Hogwarts By The Horns
by Sunshine Dust
Summary: Sometimes school is just too much, especially for Hogwarts's Head Girl. Lily Evans is being weighed down by her classes and responsibilities and the drama in her friend's lives isn't helping matters... not to mention that annoying Head Boy.
1. To The Grounds

Hogwarts by the Horns

Part 1

1

To The Grounds

Lily Evans was only half listening to Professor Slughorn's lecture as he waddled around the front of the classroom. For some reason she couldn't concentrate on her classes. She found even the slightest things, like a small spider spinning a web in one of the miniscule windows of the potions room, distracted her from the lesson. She was restless and wanted nothing more than to hear the bell that would release her from the cold dungeon.

"Lily," hissed a voice beside her.

She turned toward her best friend, Ainsley Auldsworth, and raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Are you going to take notes at all?" asked the blond girl, looking surprised. "Slughorn just said we were going to have a test on this next week."

With a little start, Lily looked down at her scarce annotations. She'd fallen very far behind in the lesson and realized with a jolt that her quill wasn't even in her hand. She snatched it up and immediately started writing whatever she could remember as Ainsley helpfully slid her own notes over for her to copy from. Annoyed with herself, she roughly brushed her dark red hair out of the way of her eyes as she poured over the parchment.

She tried to pay closer attention to the rest of the lecture and, once the bell rang at last, she begged Ainsley for her notes to make sure she hadn't missed anything.

"Sure," said the blond as she distractedly handed over the paper covered in her bubbly handwriting.

Lily glance up into the taller girl's face and saw Ainsley was staring at the backs of four boys moving with the crowd through the hall in front of them. The familiar dark heads of Potter and Black bobbed within the mass of bodies and Pettigrew's mousy-brown hair was just visible at Black's shoulder. However, Lily knew very well the only one Ainsley was interested in was the boy on the other side of Peter: her boyfriend, Remus Lupin.

"I'm going to go talk to Remus, okay?" said Ainsley, throwing her school bag over her shoulder. "I'll see you in a bit for dinner."

"Alright," Lily replied, "but don't get caught snogging in the library again!"

The joke did little to help the unusually serious look on Ainsley's face as she trotted up to her boyfriend and pulled him away from his three friends.

Lily had no more classes after potions, and her brain had proven its lack luster interest in schoolwork many times over that day, so she headed for the grounds, her muscles craving movement. The closest exit led into the courtyard. Once outside, she sucked in a clearing breath of fresh air that chilled her nose and throat. Fall was settling gradually into winter in the mountains and it cut smoothly through her muddled thoughts, wiping them away for the time being.

Blissfully letting go of how many assignments she had to complete that week, the next Prefect assembly, and most important, avoiding another meeting with McGonagall about her classes, she stuffed her hands in her pockets and walked over the lawn of the courtyard. She aimed straight ahead for the opening onto the grounds. As the sun dropped a little lower in the sky, she strolled past the lake and waved to Hagrid on the far bank. She was just turning back to find Ainsley for dinner when she saw one of her roommates, Jessica Gable, scurrying toward the same entrance she was headed for.

"Oh! Hi, Lil," greeted the beautiful girl, tossing back her rich blond locks. "You'll never guess what I've just heard."

"In all the years I've shared a room with you, I've never been able to guess what's about to come out of your mouth," Lily said, smiling wryly.

Jessica giggled mischievously, obviously flattered to no end by the remark. She was one of the biggest gossips at Hogwarts and was never without some snippet of new information. She was by no means the brightest girl in Gryffindor when it came to books or spells, but she could keep an audience of her peers rapt for hours with what she knew about the inhabitants of the castle.

"Well, I passed Deena Muller on her way to the Great Hall," Jessica began, talking in a low voice, "apparently that diet of hers is off, because she looks heavier than ever, but she stopped for a minute to tell me about the woes of her roommate."

They entered the warmth of the castle together and walked down the corridor.

"What now? Has Rona decided to leave school and join the Death Eaters a little early?" Lily grumbled before she could stop herself. She never had liked many of the Slytherin girls – they all seemed to be going the same way as their boyfriends and housemates.

"No, no, her other roommate, Cassie Block," Jessica told her, gliding over Lily's bitter comment. "You know…Sirius's girlfriend."

"It just kills you to even say it, doesn't it?" Lily teased her. While Jessica might know everything about everyone, there was one thing they all knew about her as well – she was nauseatingly in love with Sirius Black, and thus hated every one of his girlfriends. When Ainsley dated him for about a month in fourth year, she and Jessica had fought constantly.

"Well, she's a Slytherin for Merlin's sake! What could he even see in her?" Jessica blurted. "But anyway, Deena says their fighting again – worse than ever, actually. She says this may finally be the end of him and that hussy. And here I was, worried that they were getting serious!" She sounded giddy in her relief. "I should have given my lad more credit."

"Well, I hope it works out for you this time," Lily said.

Jessica gave her a bright white smile and squeezed her arm in thanks. "I've got to go make myself beautiful before he comes back to the common room. I want him to see what he's missing as long as he's with that _crazy_ girl."

Lily paused for a second and gazed after her roommate hurrying off in the direction of the Gryffindor tower. She had long legs, a gorgeous hourglass-shaped figure, and hair that did exactly what it was told to do. Lily felt a slight pang of jealousy at the thought, but she was sure Jessica would indeed be able to make herself even more beautiful before dinner was over. Lily didn't even have a chance to put on make-up most days. Keeping up with her Head Girl duties and trying to prepare for N.E.W.T.S. took up the majority of her free time and she chose to get a few more minutes sleep rather than make herself pretty every morning.

With a small sigh, she headed for the Great Hall again. However, she didn't get far before she came upon two more of her roommates. Blakeley Barron was walking beside a very unhappy Ainsley, and when the tall black girl spotted Lily she looked immensely relieved.

"We've been looking for you," she said quietly. "Ainsley and Lupin just broke up."

Lily actually gasped and looked into Ainsley's pinched face. Tears were rolling silently down her cheeks, but she wouldn't be able to hold it in for long. The redhead put her arm around her friend's shoulders and guided her and Blakeley to the only refuge she could think of where they could talk uninterrupted: back to the grounds.


	2. Better Apart

2

Better Apart

The orchards of Hogwarts were deserted except for the three girls sitting beneath the bows of one of the apple trees. Slender, pale-haired Ainsley was weeping into Lily's lap as Blakeley looked on sympathetically.

Lily wasn't quite sure what to do with her devastated friend. She'd never seen her so upset about a breakup.

"I-I-I j-j-just don't know –"

"Calm down," Lily said gently. "Take a breath first."

She and Blakeley exchanged glances over the girl's shaking back. After a moment, Ainsley straightened from Lily's lap, revealing her blotchy, wet face. She hiccupped a few times but at last managed to speak in a shuddering voice.

"I d-don't know what I did wrong," she breathed, her lips still quivering. "I t-told him I was sick of the secrets, but he still wouldn't t-tell me and when I said we had to end it if he wouldn't explain, he just…just said 'okay.'"

"You didn't do anything wrong," Blakeley assured her. "You told him exactly what you needed from him and he refused to give. Any self-respecting woman would have chucked him too. He's just a silly boy, like all the other blokes here. Who knows what they're thinking?"

"He's not just a silly boy," Ainsley snapped, "he's Remus! He's sweet and considerate and smart… He's the best boyfriend I've ever had!" Her last word turned into an anguished wail and she buried her face in Lily's lap again.

Blakeley rolled her eyes at Ainsley's drama. "You've only had three boyfriends before him," she pointed out. "One of those was Sirius Black and the other two were even worse. Lupin wouldn't have to do much to be better than them, honey."

Ainsley sobbed louder than ever and Lily threw Blakeley a reproachful look.

"What?" Blakeley demanded. She put a firm hand on Ainsley's back and said, "I'm just saying that you haven't exactly run out of men to date yet. Four tries isn't all you get."

Ainsley lifted her head and sputtered at the grass beside Lily's knees for a moment before regaining speech. "Th-those idiots d-didn't listen to me like R-Remus. They didn't care ab-bout what I thought. Even when he wasn't feeling w-well, he'd talk to me."

"Well, he obviously isn't all that great," Lily told her. "He would have told you the truth if he was, instead of letting you go."

"No, I must have done something wrong. He just said 'okay,' like he'd been waiting for me to give him the opportunity. Something must be wrong with me."

Blakeley sighed, exasperated. Lily watched as she stood up to her full impressive height and put her hands on her hips. "Ainsley Aubrey Auldsworth, you will not be talking like this. You're a beautiful, strong woman with everything going for you. Lupin doesn't know what he let slip through his fingers."

Lily nodded fervently. "That's right," she said, meeting her friend's blue eyes. "You've been nothing but a good girlfriend to him."

"And if he can't see that, he's not as smart as you think," Blakeley added sternly.

Ainsley's misery was not quelled, but her tears did slowly dry up as she and Lily stood to join Blakeley. She wiped her eyes and nose on her sleeve and peered determinedly at the ground.

"Come on, let's go back to the dorm," said Lily, linking her arm with Ainsley's and holding her hand. "I think I still have some butterbeers stashed under my bed."

The three of them walked together back to the Gryffindor tower and up to their dormitory. Jessica – who would have milked poor Ainsley for all the newest gossip her break up was worth – must have already skipped off to find Sirius somewhere, which left the room blessedly deserted. Their fifth roommate, an oddball named Philomela Thrussell, hardly entered the dorm for anything other than sleep, and wouldn't even be back in the tower until forced by curfew.

Blakeley and Ainsley sat on the blond girl's bed as Lily got on her hands and knees to search beneath her own bed for the promised butterbeers. She shoved aside some old magazines and a pair of forgotten pumps, but if she had had any bottles left before tonight, someone had gotten to them before her.

Frustrated with more than just her missing beverages, she got up and looked around at the other two as she pulled a dust bunny out of her dark red hair. It was painfully obvious that Ainsley was still trying to hold back a new rush of tears and Blakeley shrugged at Lily helplessly.

"I'm out of butterbeers," Lily told them. "But you know, I can get some more. I'll be right back."

She turned to leave, but Ainsley said, "You don't have to. I'd rather –"

"It's nothing, really," Lily interrupted. "It'll only take a minute."

With that she closed the door on them and headed for the common room.

She couldn't help it, she was angry. She was frustrated by the fact that she couldn't do anything to make her closest friend in the world feel better. Why would Lupin do this to Ainsley? Had he wanted out of the relationship that badly? One moment everything seemed to be going famously between the couple, and the next he just let it fall apart without even giving her a good reason or the truth. Ainsley had been very devoted to him and talked about him all the time – annoyingly so, in fact – and he'd seemed quite fond of her as well, so why the change of heart?

Wanting to do something for Ainsley besides comfort her, Lily was using the butterbeers as an excuse to seek out the stupid boy and confront him. She thought he was better than his arrogant friends. She thought he had some sense. If she could only find out the reason behind the breakup, perhaps she could help Ainsley.

Lily reached the middle of the common room, but only glanced around briefly. She had figured he wouldn't be here, but she hoped she could find Peter Pettigrew or someone who could point her in the right direction.

As she stood there, the portrait swung open and James Potter walked in wearing sweat-drenched Quidditch robes. She flew up to him.

"Potter, great!" she said, pushing the surprised boy back into the empty hall beyond the portrait. She didn't want everyone overhearing her, so she closed the hidden door behind her.

The messy-haired Head Boy raised a black eyebrow at her hand on his chest, but didn't protest. "I'm sorry? Did you just use my name and 'great' in the same sentence? I thought I was – what was it this week? – lower than troll dung, I believe. How was I suddenly promoted to 'great'?"

"Troll dung was last week," she corrected sharply. "You actually haven't done anything to warrant me calling you a name this week."

A grin spread over his face. "Well, I figured since we have to talk to each other just about every day whether you like it or not, I prefer it when you don't hate me." He was referring of course to their Head Boy and Girl meetings that took place at least once a week.

"Kind of you," she muttered. "Now, I have to ask you a favor."

"Absolutely, Evans. I'd be happy to go out with you."

"You're doing it again," warned the redhead.

"Sorry. What can I do for you, mademoiselle?"

James eyed her with some amusement and pushed his glasses into place on the bridge of his shining nose. His practice must have been a harsh one; she could smell the sweat on him as clearly as she could see it and he looked rather haggard. Mr. Boundless Energy was actually worn out.

It almost made her guilty to ask her favor. "I need some butterbeers. I know you know where the kitchens are," she added when he started to speak. "I told my friends I would get some, and it would look suspicious if I showed up without them. Would you –"

"Get them for you?" he finished for her, looking a bit unhappy. "While you do what?"

"While I talk to Lupin for a minute," she informed him. "I just need a cover, so Ainsley won't get mad at me."

"Why, what's up with Remus?"

Lily's eyebrows rose. "You mean you don't even know what's going on with your own friend?"

James shrugged and looked incredulous. "How should I know? What with classes, Quidditch practice, and all this Head Boy stuff it's not like I ever see them anymore."

She understood the bitterness in his voice and once again felt a little surge of guilt in asking him to get the butterbeers. Still, she felt it was somewhat justified when she considered how much trouble he'd gotten himself and others into before he'd had no more free time. "Well, I need to talk to him. Do you have any idea where he is?"

He shrugged again. "I dunno. I can't even find Peter, and he's usually only about three steps behind me. He must think I'm boring now that I follow the rules."

Lily was about to contradict him on the part about following the rules, but she couldn't honestly think of anything he'd done recently that had been out of bounds, so she closed her mouth. "Well, never mind the butterbeers," she backtracked, losing the angry edge she had felt just moments earlier. "You're obviously tired, I shouldn't have asked. I'll just find Remus and forget the drinks."

James suddenly held up his hands and shook his head. "No, no. I'm not tired," he said a little indignantly. "I'll get them."

"No. I can get Remus to take me while I talk to him," she argued.

"Look, what time is it?"

"Er…Eight o'clock, I think."

"He's probably up in the dorm studying for the potion's test if he's managed to shake Sirius and Peter," James told her. "I'll get the butterbeers and meet you in the common room, okay?"

"Are you sure?"

"I live to serve you, my lady," he assured her with a grin. He made a deep bow that made his hair even more disheveled before straightening. "Go on."

She couldn't help but return his smile. As he left, she watched his back retreat down the hall for a second or two before going back inside the common room and dashing up the staircase to the boys' dormitories. She wondered how James had known she knew which dormitory belonged to the seventh year boys. Perhaps he assumed she knew more than she let on – and rightfully so. After all, she was a roommate of Jessica Gable, who knew everything concerning Sirius Black – including where he slept at night.

Finding the right door and knowing who was on the other side, Lily felt her displeasure with Lupin bubble up again. She tapped on the door three times and heard muffled movement inside. A low voice muttered something near the door and was answered by a noise of complaint that was unmistakably feline. The door opened and Lily stepped back as a calico cat zoomed out over her feet.

The pale face of Remus Lupin appeared in front of her when she looked up again. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of her.

"Hello, Lily," he said bracingly.

"Hi," she replied curtly. "Can I talk to you?"

Without waiting for permission, she placed her palm flat on the door and pushed it open, letting herself inside.

"Of course," Remus said flatly, thought she was already standing in the middle of the circular room.

There were only four beds because their fifth roommate had been expelled in his second year. It was messy, but the clutter did not surprise her – if anything, she was impressed there wasn't more of it. To Lily, it smelled exactly as she would imagine a boys dorm to smell like: not particularly clean or dirty, but perpetually in the limbo between the two. She turned on the spot thinking of what she was going to say first, hardly concerned by the fact this was the first time she'd actually crossed the threshold into a boy's dorm. In the current situation, it wasn't a very big deal.

Finally revolving until she was once more facing Remus, she stopped and gave him a hard stare. He looked as if he was steeling himself for an attack, which she took as a sign that he knew exactly why she was there.

"What the heck, Remus?" she demanded, the words bursting from her before her brain could come up with a better way to start.

He looked vaguely around the room, as if half hoping someone might pop up and come to his rescue.

"Did you even like Ainsley?" Lily snapped. "Tell me, did you like being with her, or was she just some – some excuse to have a girlfriend?"

Remus looked taken aback by her accusation. She hadn't actually thought he'd be that petty, but she was grasping at straws in her frustration with him. Her best friend was crying in a nearby room and he was the reason why.

"What?" he said confused. "You know I wouldn't do that."

"Well, who can ever tell with you, you git? One day you seem to be pretty normal, then you go and do something that makes absolutely no sense!" she exclaimed. "I realize Sirius and James don't think much of Ainsley, but I never thought you'd let that stop you from liking her."

"That's ridiculous –"

"Is it? Sometimes I wonder."

"Well, you're wrong – and it's none of your business anyway," he snapped, clearly angry now.

"So you actually cared for Ainsley?"

"Of course I did!" he replied indignantly. "But I don't feel much like talking to you about it, so…" He opened the door and motioned for her to leave.

She moved to one of the trunks and slammed it closed before seating herself on its lid to emphasize that she wasn't going anywhere just yet. "If you cared so much, why would you hurt her like that?" she said.

Remus's frown deepened into a glare. "You realize she dumped _me_, right?"

"Because you don't trust her! She was just concerned about… about…. _whatever's_ wrong with you! You're so secretive, and she was heartbroken that you didn't think enough of her to tell her the truth."

His hand flew to his forehead and he let out an aggravated sigh as he flung the door closed in a hopeless gesture.

"She's really broken up, Remus," Lily plowed on heedlessly. "She's doesn't understand why you couldn't simply tell her. And you just let her go like you didn't care!"

Remus talked to the hangings on one of the beds instead of her: "She gave me an ultimatum…"

"But she didn't think you'd actually let her break up with you!" Lily said, unable to comprehend why he couldn't see this. "She stood by you since last year, patiently waiting for you to be honest with her. She never held back, despite you never once opening up! What on earth could be so wrong with you that you'd rather break up with someone who really cares about you than tell them about it?"

"You don't understand…"

"Well, Ainsley certainly doesn't. She thinks there's something wrong with _her_!"

"Okay, Lily," he said, whirling back to face her, "I get it. I realize I'm a low down scumbag for making Ainsley so upset. But neither of you understand, and I can't make you understand." He raised his hand to silence her when she made to protest. "Just… trust me when I say she's better off."

She studied his face and his eyes seemed to implore her to stop, begging her not to argue or ask any more questions. From the way Ainsley had spoken about his apparent indifference to the break up, Lily hadn't expected his pained expression.

She soften, she couldn't help it. She had never disliked Lupin before tonight, and had even considered him a friend. It was obvious he was upset about being dumped as well and she felt ashamed that she'd made him feel worse. He must have liked Ainsley, but he seemed to truly believe they were better apart. While Lily was completely unsatisfied with his lack of straight answers, she couldn't find it in herself to quarrel with him any longer.

Once he realized she wasn't going to continue shouting at him, he sighed again and sat down beside her on the trunk, miserably leaning forward to rest his chin on his hands. "Lily," he began after a moment, "you have to realize that I would never purposefully hurt Ainsley. I…" He sat up some to look at her. "It has nothing to do with her, but there're some things I just can't tell her… or anyone."

Unbidden, Severus's theory about Remus's illness came to mind. She brushed it off. Whatever was ailing Lupin, he was not going to tell her – or anyone as he said – so jumping to a conclusion like that, backed only by the speculations of someone who held inordinate dislike for him, was simply not fair.

"And if she accepted that," Lily said slowly, her voice back to a civil tone. "If she gave you the benefit of the doubt, would you go out with her again?"

Remus looked away from her. "No," he told her. "It's better this way."

She wanted to demand why; why was it better to let poor Ainsley suffer and for him to be alone? It took great effort to hold her questions in, but she managed. After a moment of uncomfortable silence between them, she was grateful to find a slight distraction:

"Remus, what happened to your hand?"

For a moment he looked confused, but comprehension dawned when he followed her pointing finger to his badly scratched right hand. "Oh. Patches…"

"What?"

"Er… Peter's cat, Patches, scratched me." He gestured toward the door from which the calico had bolted before Lily came in. "It hates me," he added, before putting his hand out of sight.

"I can mend it if you want," she offered.

He shook his head. "No, it's fine. Thank you anyway."

Fully aware that she had acted like a harpy when she stormed into the dorm, Lily stood to leave.

"I'm sorry I thought you were a git," she said awkwardly. "I just saw how sad Ainsley was and I couldn't stop myself."

Remus didn't answer, choosing to stare mutely at his knee instead.

She reached the door and paused with her hand on the knob. Unable to restrain herself, Lily whipped back around. "Remus, I have to ask," she said, wincing apologetically. "Are you okay?"

He stared at her with a mixture of bewilderment and lingering annoyance. "Am I okay?"

"This illness, or whatever, that you can't talk about – Ainsley said something…"

Remus's eyebrows were raised, waiting expectantly, but the question died on her lips and she couldn't make it resurface.

Even more embarrassed now, she grabbed the doorknob behind her and opened the door "Never mind. I'll get out of your room now," she said, stepping into the hall. "Sorry again… Bye…"

Leaving Remus in peace at last and wondering what she had hoped to accomplish by going to see him in the first place, she walked briskly down the hall. She got a whiff of something very foul smelling at one point and realized it was coming from the third years' dorm. It was like mounds of dirty laundry mingled with old Munster. Shaking her head in amazement at how disgusting boys could get, she ignored the curious stares of a handful of first and second year boys she passed on her way out.

A glimpse of red and gold robes caught her attention once she stepped into the common room and she suddenly remembered that she was supposed to meet James for the butterbeers. However, he had fallen asleep propped up in one of the chairs with his head tilted back, snoring softly. Three butterbeers were on the table in front of him. Sirius sat in the chair beside his, frowning at that day's _Daily Prophet_ with another butterbeer in his hand.

"He must have gotten back fast," Lily commented quietly as she approached. "Was he really that tired?"

Sirius shrugged without looking up from his paper. "Dunno, found him like this when I came in a minute ago. I figured I'd wait until his snoring got embarrassingly loud before waking him." He was about to take another swig from the bottle but Lily summoned it from his hand with her wand.

"I believe that's mine, actually," she told him. She didn't really need a fourth drink; she simply didn't want the arrogant boy to have it.

He seemed only faintly annoyed by the bottle's absence and went back to his paper as she gathered up the rest of the drinks from the table.

"You sending him on errands now?"

Lily paused and looked again at Sirius's handsome, seemingly distracted face. Perhaps it wasn't the butterbeer he was annoyed about.

When she didn't reply he pulled his grey eyes away from the _Prophet_ and fixed them on her instead. "Nice to have someone who's head over heals for you to boss around, isn't it?" he drawled.

Lily narrowed her eyes at the pompous berk. "Well, you would know, wouldn't you, Black? I don't think I can count how many times you've taken advantage of Jessica on both hands. And for your information, I told him he didn't have to go to the kitchens, but he wanted to do it."

"Come on, Evans," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "You know he'd do anything for you – if he was bleeding from the ears, he'd still stumble to the kitchens and get you anything you wanted. It's common knowledge that _I'm_ a terrible person, but you're supposed to be one of the good ones, Miss Head Girl."

"Well, then you'll forgive me for not taking advise from Gryffindor's most 'terrible person,'" she retorted.

Lily started to walk off, having had her fill of Potter's friends, but she hesitated beside the still slumbering Quidditch captain. She selected one of the three unopened bottles in her hands and placed it gently in his robes pocket, careful to make sure Sirius had gone back to his paper and didn't see. Then she hurried back to her friends in her dorm.

"Where have you been?" Blakeley asked her curiously as she came in and handed each of them a butterbeer.

"Sorry, I, uh… got held up by some stupid boys," Lily offered before quickly taking a drink from the bottle Sirius had opened – hoping she wouldn't catch some wizarding kind of mono. "Are you feeling any better, Ainsley?"

The blond girl merely shrugged, "Blakeley was just telling me about some of her terrible ex-boyfriends," she said.

The pretty black girl grinned at Lily suddenly. "Do you remember when I went out with Todd Tucker?" she asked, her eyes laughing reminiscently. "He certainly didn't help the whole Hufflepuff stereotype thing. Dumb as a bag of rocks!"

"Cute, though," Ainsley added with a weak smile.

Lily chuckled a little and sat down with them. She decided to wait to tell Ainsley about what Remus had said – if at all.


	3. Eating Together

3

"Are you two eating together?"

Lily's next meeting with James was very early on a Friday morning – the Great Hall hadn't even opened yet for breakfast. Borrowing McGonagall's desk in the Transfiguration room, they sat across from each other, James in the professor's chair with his head propped on his folded arms on the desk top. He looked just as exhausted as she felt and his glasses were slightly askew on his face.

"Remind me again why we have to do this so early?" he grumbled.

Stifling a yawn, Lily said, "It was the only time both of us were free."

"I don't count sleeping as free time," he told her.

"I know, but I'm trying to give you time for your Quidditch practice tonight," she explained.

His eyes flickered up to hers and his brows furrowed curiously, apparently surprised she had made an effort to consider his hectic schedule.

She ignored him by looking at the list of topics on the parchment in her hand. "Anyway," she began quickly, "the most important thing I have written down is dormitory cleanliness, so this shouldn't take too long…"

"Dormitory cleanliness? Since when are we in charge of keeping dorms clean?"

"We're not, but the heads of all four houses have asked that we talk to the prefects about reminding students to pick up after themselves," Lily told him. "House elves don't clean the dorms other than laundry and trash bins, and apparently, not even magic can get rid of all the cockroaches in a castle this size."

"Is this seriously our most important topic?" he laughed.

"It is important," she insisted, frowning impatiently. "Clearly you haven't noticed the smell coming from the third year boys' room in our tower. Every prefect on your hall has complained about it."

"So why don't they tell the gross little prats to clean up?"

"They have, but the third years have obviously ignored them." Lily arched an auburn eyebrow at him expectantly.

James heaved and enormous sigh. "Alright, I'll make the slobs clean their sty. What's next?"

"McGonagall wants us to help Filch enforce the new contraband on a few items."

"Oh, really? I don't remember hell freezing over," he interrupted before she could read aloud the recently lengthened list.

"But McGonagall said –"

"Sorry, Filch has taken one too many things from me over the years. I'm not going to help him ruin Hogwarts for everyone else as well."

Trying to muster up enough patience for Potter this early in the morning was turning into quite a daunting task. Next time she wouldn't do him any favors – let him deal with his dumb, time consuming practices on his own.

"Don't you think this little war between you and Filch has gone on for long enough?" she said in a poorly attempted tone of tolerance.

"In our first year," James started, outraged, "he made me sleep in the dungeons for ten nights and hit me with Whistler each morning just because he found a bag of dungbombs on me!"

Unimpressed, Lily retorted, "See, I remember you setting off forty of them in the second-floor corridor and Filch finding an empty bag on you later the same day."

"Well, you obviously weren't there because that's not how it happened."

"I certainly had to suffer through that stink for days and days in Defense Against the Dark Arts," she told him resentfully. "I'd say you deserved the paddle and a few nights in a cell. It's a pity you're too thickheaded to learn from the experience."

A wicked grin tugged at his lips as he eyed her for a second. "Oh really? Well, maybe I should stop asking you out and help you hook up with Filch instead, since you seem to like him so much. I never realized you were interested in blokes who made, carried, and named their own paddles."

"Oh, yeah," Lily retorted sarcastically. "I can't say no to a creepy middle-aged man with a chain fetish and an unnatural relationship with his cat. Saggy jowls really turn me on."

James laughed so hard at this she soon found herself joining in.

Still smiling, Lily tried to steer them back on track. "Okay, next on the list," she announced.

"Come on, slack off for once in your life," he spoke over her. "Go to breakfast with me."

"We've slacked off enough – that's why neither of us has any time. Let's just finish up really quickly," she argued, but he shook his head.

"There'll be plenty of time later to yell at the prefects and not help Filch," he insisted. "Aren't you starving?"

Lily's traitorous stomach growled at that very moment and she sighed, giving up. "Alright, but we're going to have to work out the next time we can meet."

James beamed and stood up. His chair toppled over backward and he speedily righted it with his wand in the next second as if she might not have noticed. Lily decided to act like she hadn't, and rolled her eyes once she had turned toward the door. She knew they would probably be the first ones in the Great Hall and she hoped he wouldn't treat this like some sort of sad date – but she was sure he would. Nonetheless, she let him hold the door open for her and walked with him down the corridor.

When they reached the Great Hall, however, they were not alone. The lank haired, hook-nosed visage of Severus Snape met them as he reached the entrance at the same time they did. The three seventh years stopped for a brief moment; Severus looked between the two of them suspiciously and James coldly narrowed his eyes at Snape, ignoring Lily's warning glance. The antipathy between the two boys was a palpable thing that lingered in the air.

"Come on," she said to James, "I thought you were hungry."

When he didn't move right away she lightly touched his wrist, which seemed to rouse him from his staring contest with Severus. He turned his attention back to her and followed as she strode past the sour looking Slytherin into the Hall.

They didn't get very far before Lily felt Severus's hand on her shoulder. "Lily, wait a minute," he said as she whirled around.

James looked murderous and she knew his wand was already in his hand, but she wasn't about to let them duel in the middle of the Great Hall.

"I don't want to talk to you, Severus," she said calmly before putting her back to him again.

Head Boy and Girl went to the Gryffindor table and Snape stalked off to Slytherin's, his face livid. Once they helped their plates, Lily could feel Severus's eyes on her back, keeping watch on them.

"Ugly git," James muttered. "Is he going to stare at us the whole time?"

"So what if he does," Lily answered coolly. "As long as he doesn't come over here, I don't care."

James was not appeased. He didn't talk much once they started eating and Lily knew he was miffed that their not-a-date was being intruded upon by the worst possible person. She was grateful when other people started coming in and fixing their plates – each Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw put a little more distance between them and Snape, and every Gryffindor that sat near them presented another distraction.

Peter came scurrying up once the Hall was nearly half full and plopped down beside James. "So, okay, I don't know what's wrong with Patches," he said the moment he'd set his heartily stacked plate down. "He's acting really strange."

Lily watched as James rolled his eyes and continued eating without replying. Peter glanced up from the food he was already shoveling into his mouth and saw her sitting across from them.

"Oh!" exclaimed the boy in his squeaky voice. "Are you two eating together?"

"What would give you that idea?" James grumbled.

Lily tried to cover her amused grin by turning it on Peter instead. "Good morning, Pettigrew," she said.

"Hi," he replied, returning her smile briefly before giving her a serious look. "You don't know anything about cats do you? 'Cause I'm really worried about mine."

She shrugged. "I've never had a cat, but Philomela's stays in the dorm more often than she does, so I've lived with one."

"Well, Patches is getting really weird. He keeps rubbing up against me – way more than usual I mean – and he's meowing a lot. Then he kept sticking his bum in my face for some reason. He acts like he's gotten into some catnip, but I haven't given him any."

After going over the symptoms he sat peering anxiously at Lily, waiting for her to give a diagnosis. When she merely frowned at him, completely befuddled, Peter looked back at James and received only a blank stare.

"Well?" demanded the rodent-faced boy.

"Peter, how many times do we have to tell you Patches is a girl?" James said at last.

"Don't start that again!" Peter retorted hotly.

"Patches is a _girl_," James said, as if for the hundredth time.

"No he's not!"

"Yes she is, and she's in heat! We tried to explain this concept to you last year!"

Lily cracked up and spilled some of her pumpkin juice onto her plate. Remus walked up at that point and gave her a small smile of greeting before sitting down on Peter's other side. The short boy immediately turned to him for help. "Remus, Patches is a boy, isn't he? Tell them!"

"No, Pete," Lupin said, "Patches is a girl. I know you think James and Sirius are just having a laugh, but they're not."

"See!" James cried triumphantly. "She's a girl!"

Peter shook his head vigorously. "Nu-uh!"

"Yeah-huh!"

"He's a boy."

"Girl!"

"I don't believe you."

"Female!"

"You're just trying to pull one –"

"Chica! Lass! Fille! She-beast! G-I-R-L!"

"James, please stop," Remus begged.

"But he's being an idiot!"

Lily spoke over them: "Peter, you're cat is a calico. I hate to break this to you, but all calicos are girls."

Pettigrew opened his mouth to reply, but a sudden commotion caught everyone's attention. Faces from all over the Hall turned to hear the argument ensuing from the nearby marble staircase. The Gryffindor table was one of the closest to the wall, so Lily couldn't see who it was, but their incensed voices echoed throughout.

"Did you _kiss_ her?" screamed a familiar girl's voice. "_Did you_?"

"It doesn't matter what I say! It's not like you'll believe me anyway!"

At the sound of the even more familiar boy's voice, James swore and slumped in his seat. Peter leaned forward inquisitively, trying to get a better look. A frown line appeared between Remus's brows as he tried to ignore the din. Lily sat very still and simply listened, her green eyes rather wide.

"YOU _DID_ KISS HER!" Cassie Block shrieked hysterically. "I knew it! You cheating, two-faced PIG!"

"I did _not_ kiss her, you psycho!" Sirius roared back. "I can't stop a girl from flirting with me! You have to freak out about EVERYTHING!"

"I do not!" Cassie screeched indignantly.

"Oh, no, you're right," Sirius said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I can't ever remember you _screaming at the TOP OF YOUR LUNGS IN PUBLIC_!"

"Well, I guess you don't have to worry about _that_ anymore," Cassie bellowed furiously.

"Yeah, you're right about that!"

"Just like I'm right about _everything_ else!"

And they ended their fight at the same time, Sirius shouting, "It's over!" as Cassie sobbed, "I _hate_ you!"

Apparently Cassie had stormed off in the opposite direction, because Sirius entered the Great Hall alone. The moment he appeared a wave of murmuring spread over all the tables. The angry – and all the more handsome because of it – seventh year moved past the stares and whispers without slowing down and sat beside James.

"Morning, mates," he said gruffly. "Sleep well?"


	4. The Third Year Dorm

4

The Third Year Dorm

The second Quidditch game of the season was between Gryffindor and Slytherin and scheduled for the upcoming Saturday. Sirius and Cassie's fight seemed to set the mood between the two houses for the next week. It was Wednesday night when Lily found out that James and Severus had ended up crossing paths again in a corridor on the fifth floor. Jessica had seen the whole thing and spared no detail when she told Lily and Ainsley about it later that day.

"Oh, you should have seen it!" she kept saying. "They were both so fast you couldn't tell who sent what. Then Potter was bleeding and it looked like Snape might win, but then Potter stuck him to the ceiling."

"No way!" Ainsley exclaimed, completely enthralled. "Did he get down?"

"Of course," Jessica said, waving off the question as if it had been unnecessary. "He's Snape, isn't he?"

"Then what?" Lily asked a little apprehensively.

"Then they started cursing each other again. Things were getting a little scary before Lupin found out and broke them up. When James started ragging on Snape's Quidditch skills, the old grease-ball hexed Lupin and got past him. You'll never believe what Potter did to him then! You should have seen it!"

"Well, tell us!"

Jessica giggled as if she had just heard a dirty joke. "Oh, you'll love it. Potter gave Snape a little Gryffindor pride. He's going to be red and gold for a while, I think!"

"You're kidding!" cried Lily as Ainsley laughed.

"Nope, his right side is red and the left is gold! It was brilliant!"

Something important seemed to occur to Ainsley, and she stopped laughing for a moment. "Is Remus okay? Snape didn't hurt him did he?"

Jessica made another little dismissive wave of her hand. "He's fine, and so is Potter. They all had to run for it when Professor McGonagall came into the corridor or they would've had detentions for the rest of the year. Of course, once everyone sees 'Snapendor' it won't be hard to guess who did it."

As Ainsley snorted with laughter again, Lily looked at Jessica, surprised. "You mean Severus can't get the colors off?" she asked.

"Not any time soon he can't," said the beautiful blonde, sneering rather wickedly.

The portrait hole opened and the Gryffindor Quidditch team entered the common room, done with practice for the night. As she watched them Lily tried to imagine the red and gold of their sweaty robes plastered on either side of Severus's face. He must be furious, and she was sure his housemates would give him hell for sporting their rival's colors at such a cutthroat time.

Blakeley and James were two of the last players to enter. The captain seemed to be reproaching his fellow Chaser, who stood eye to eye with him just inside the portrait door. Blakeley nodded solemnly a few times until James walked off to the boys' dorms.

Joining her roommates, the tall girl let an exhausted sigh escape her full lips. "Blimey."

"What was that about?" Lily inquired.

"Oh, James was just telling me off for skipping the practice before last," she said, glibly.

"You mean when Ainsley chucked Lupin?" Jessica contributed helpfully.

The mirth in Ainsley's eyes immediately died and she became very quiet. Lily and Blakeley both gave Jessica dark looks as Blakeley answered, "Yeah, that's the one."

Lily hadn't even thought about the fact that James had been at practice and Blakeley had not. She'd been too preoccupied with the Ainsley-Lupin situation.

"Sorry, Blakeley," Ainsley said meekly. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

Blakeley scoffed at this. "He wasn't that mad – he's just stressed over our game with Slytherin. Besides, you're more important than one practice."

Ainsley smiled faintly as Blakeley wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a brief squeeze.

"You know what he told me before he got all pissy?" asked the Chaser, looking straight at Lily. "He said you two are getting along better now. He told me you even had breakfast together." She arched her eyebrows at the redhead and didn't bother holding back a teasing grin.

Lily rolled her eyes. "We have to get along," she said rather quickly. "We're head Boy and Girl."

"So that means you have to share meals with him as well?" Jessica inquired coquettishly. "Are we finally warming up to Mr. Potter by any chance?"

"The only thing I'm warming up to is the fact that he's not acting like a dolt twenty-four seven," Lily retorted. "I still think he's an idiot, just less of one."

"I don't think you're as harsh with anyone as you are with James," Blakeley commented. "He's a load of fun to hang out with and he really likes you."

Lily winced slightly. "Am I really that harsh toward him?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Well, you were certainly nicer to Snape," Ainsley pointed out to agreeing nods from Jessica and Blakeley, "and he's the epitome of evil."

Lily chuckled shortly at her friend's view of Severus. "He's not evil," she argued. "He's just… also an idiot."

"Whatever," Ainsley interjected, "he's scary. Potter at least has the capacity to laugh."

"Boy does he!" exclaimed Jessica. "He's hilarious – and not bad looking. He's way cuter than that beak-boy anyway."

"You all seem to think I was going out with Severus," Lily said, throwing up her arms in exasperation. "We were only friends."

"We're just saying you've got more reason to like James than some git Slytherin, who wasn't very nice to you in the first place," Blakeley said.

Lily laughed incredulously. "Alright, alright. If he's that fantastic, how come none of you have dated him? You want me to give him a chance, but I don't see you queuing to be his bird."

"I only want one man," Jessica said, staring wistfully at the ceiling as if hoping to see Sirius in his dorm through the floors above them.

Blakeley shook her head hopelessly at the pretty blonde before turning back to Lily. "If he talked about me as much as he does you, and gave me half as much attention, I don't think I'd say no," she said seriously.

Lily was beaten and she knew it. She gathered up her bag and stood to leave, saying, "Okay, you three. I promise to be nicer to Potter. Just remember that it's my business – and _only_ mine – who I date."

"But you _should_ date him," Jessica piped up. "Then you two can go on double dates with Sirius and me."

"I'll keep that in mind," Lily assured her, exchanging a sideways glance with Ainsley. "I need to talk to Professor McGonagall before it gets too late. See you guys later."

She never thought she'd be using McGonagall as an excuse to escape her friends – especially since she wanted to avoid her head of house at all costs at this point. McGonagall had been hounding Lily to come to her office for a while now, and she was afraid she knew why. It was going to be a rough night if this meeting was about what she thought it was.

Before she could make it to the portrait hole, however, she heard a rumble of commotion from the dormitory stair case. She and everyone else looked around to see what was going on as a second year boy poked his grinning face into the common room and said, "Potter is making the third years clean up their dorm!"

Several Gryffindors, including Lily, dropped what they were doing and followed the boy up the stairs to where the third year room door stood open, emitting a foul odor. One of the roommates lounged against the opposite wall, watching the clean-up process with a smug look on his face. Lily stood next to him to peer inside.

"Finally something's being done," he said to her. "Potter said I didn't have to tidy up since my area was the only clean place."

There was indeed a single bed in the room that was made and not surrounded by junk. The other four were trashed with papers, text books, dirty clothes, old candy wrappers, spilled ink bottles, broken quills, some dark spots that may have been crumbs or rat droppings, and several empty bottles. However, Lily couldn't find a single thing in sight that could produce the rank smell that was wafting out of the door and making James cover his nose with the neckline of his Quidditch robes as he stood in the middle of the clutter.

"How did so many slobs end up in one room?" asked the Head Boy, shaking his head in disbelief at the chaos around his feet. The four kids left in the room with him were giving him a range of looks from irritated to bashful as they reluctantly picked up.

Using the tip of his wand instead of his finger, James prodded some dirty robes hanging on one of the four poster beds. "You do realize the house elves will do your laundry, don't you?" he inquired of the younger boys. "You just have to put it in the hamper so they can pick it up. Got it? Except these," he said, pointing to some particularly worn y-fronts near his left foot, "these should be incinerated. Or maybe I should send them off to your mum so she can see how badly you need new under-roos."

One boy – presumably the owner of the undergarments – shot James a dark look as he shuffled around collecting various school supplies in his arms. Several of the onlookers sniggered from behind Lily.

"Okay, folks," she said, facing the spectators and blocking the doorway with her body, "time to get back to your own lives." She shooed them all away before turning back toward the dorm with the fifth third year right beside her, eyeing the progress.

James glanced at her and winked over the makeshift nose-guard of his Quidditch robes still firmly pressed over the lower half of his face. She smiled gratefully back at him.

"How long is this going to take?" asked the thirteen-year-old next to Lily. "At this rate it'll be dawn before they finish."

"Yeah, I don't have all night," James muttered. His wand twitched once and all of the clothes lying out – whether dirty or clean – zoomed into the designated hampers. "That's one layer down," he said, "and another step closer to finding that bloody stench."

"I'll help," Lily offered, stepping inside and trying to resist the urge to back straight out again. The smell grew more putrescent with each step.

"But you're a girl," one boy pointed out brilliantly.

Lily plastered a patient smile on her face and answered, "So's your mother. And she must've cleaned _for_ you at home because you clearly lack the capacity to do it yourself."

"I think you have a rodent infestation," James piped from the far side of the room.

"It's not an infestation," a mousy haired boy retorted angrily. "I have a pet rat that I haven't seen for a few days."

"Imagine that."

Her objective to see McGonagall conveniently forgotten, Lily started helping the boys clean. She was astounded by how many layers of clutter coated the floor, but it took surprisingly little time for them to find the source of the smell.

"Oy! I found the stink," announced one boy, who had momentarily vanished behind one of the beds and suddenly popped back up wearing a disgusted expression. "It's under Irving's bed."

James and Lily, who had to pinch her nostrils closed, proceeded to get on their hands and knees to peer under the bed with the younger student.

James swore again. "Augh! For the love of –"

"Ew! That's repulsive!" Lily exclaimed.

"What? What is it?" called the clean roommate from the doorway.

"Irving's leftover frog's breath potion from last month," declared the boy who had discovered the overturned jar and its putrid contents.

Lily stood up straight and looked around the room. "Which one of you is Irving?"

No verbal answer came, but four fingers pointed toward a scrawny boy who was presently trying to remove an ink stain from the carpet. The culprit glanced up at the Head Girl before biting his lip and turning his eyes away sheepishly.

"I guess I forgot about it," he mumbled awkwardly.

"I think it's safe to call it more than a guess, you prat," sneered the smug boy outside.

"C'mon," Lily spoke up, gesturing Irving over. "Let's get this mess out of the rug."

In the meantime, James ordered the rest of the boys to different tasks around the dorm. "Y-fronts," he called the boy with the ragged underwear, "keep picking up trash. And brown-haired-boy, you can start getting all the food bits into the bin – don't give me that look, you should know that spell by now. Other kid, get the gunk off of that window… In the name of Merlin's Aunt Fanny! What's that stuff on the ceiling?"

Lily didn't know how long it took, but they purged the sty and did their best with the foul smell. Once they were finished, with the third years banished to their now clean dorm by James for the trouble they caused, Head Boy and Girl stepped into the hall and uttered simultaneous sighs.

"Thank you," Lily said to him.

"Anything for you, Evans," he replied with an amused grin.


	5. The Herbology Project

5

The Herbology Project

"Class dismissed," McGonagall said, waving the students off to lunch. "Oh, Miss Evans, I'd like to talk with you, if you please."

The redhead froze in mid-step toward escape from the Transfiguration classroom. Ainsley paused next to her and waited as Lily whirled around to face their head of house. "Er… actually, Professor, I told Professor Slughorn I would meet him before lunch."

McGonagall frowned at her with pursed lips. "Alright then, tonight after dinner I'll expect you in my office."

Lily did her best not to cringe. "Yes, Professor."

As she and Ainsley left the room, the blonde nudged her friend on the shoulder. "I didn't realize you had to talk to Slughorn. Do you want me to wait for you?"

"Eh, don't bother, I was lying," Lily told her flatly.

Ainsley's expression was a mixture of mild surprise and humor. "Tired of your Head duties already, Miss Evans?" she teased in an impression of McGonagall's austere tones.

"You could say that, I suppose," Lily responded distractedly as something caught her eye. A particularly festive display of Gryffindor pride was stumping down the hall toward her, but she quickly realized the owner of the red and gold face was not a fan of her house. Severus, or rather Snapendor, obviously hadn't been able to remove James's jinx from his skin and he still looked incensed about it.

"Oh my God," hissed Ainsley beside her, the laugh plain in her voice, "Jessica was right."

As he drew near them, Severus glanced up and spotted Lily. He immediately focused his eyes hard on the path in front of him and didn't say a word as he passed. Lily felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she watched him go, but she tried to ignore it.

"Come on," Ainsley urged, apparently seeing the uneasy look on her friend's face. "Do you want to eat?"

After lunch in Herbology class, Sprout had an unexpected challenge to present to them. She stood at the front of the greenhouse among twenty potted plants of various species and temperament.

"Today, seventh years," she said to her class, "I am assigning you your very own plants to take with you and care for in your dorms. You will have them for the rest of the semester and turn them in before you leave for Christmas holiday. I won't be telling you how to tend to them or what their names are. I want you to find out on your own using the skills and knowledge you all should have acquired in my classes thus far to research what plant you might have. You will study it as you take care of it – keeping it alive first and foremost – and write a three foot essay about its nature, habits, and needs, also to be turned in before Christmas. Now, when I call your name, please come claim your assigned plant."

Very few people looked excited about this. Everyone had a clear view of the life forms they were up against, and Lily was glad to see that even the most advanced Herbology students were just as clueless about the plants as she was. Several of the specimens looked vaguely familiar to the ones they had studied in class, however, none of them would be easy to identify.

"Miss Auldsworth," Sprout called.

Ainsley walked to the front of the greenhouse and was handed a small, pale green shrub with scale-like leaves. As each of their classmates was called in turn, she and Lily studied the plant.

"Is it an evergreen?" asked Ainsley, looking nonplussed. "It sort of reminds me of a juniper."

Lily merely shrugged. "Could be. Is it just me, or is it really cold?"

Ainsley snorted. "It's definitely coming from the plant. As if it wasn't cold enough outside."

Black brought a coiling myrtle green plant back to his seat and hastily deposited it on the table he shared with his roommates. No sooner did the pot touch the table than the four boys had to duck from their seats to avoid being pierced by a number of dart-like thorns that were suddenly expelled from the stems.

"Bloody hell! It hates me," Sirius cried. "Watch it!"

But before more needle-sharp thorns could be propelled in all directions, Remus hurriedly hit the plant with an Impediment jinx.

"You'll have to think fast with that one, Mr. Black," Sprout commented merrily. Sirius gave her a dark look, which she ignored as she called: "Miss Evans."

Lily received a very pretty plant that didn't appear too dangerous or animated. It had a thick, dome-shaped cluster of leaves coated in thin silvery hairs, each tipped with a dewy little flower. The tiny flowers were red when she first picked up the plant, but by the time she had reached her chair they had turned a vibrant purple, then shifted into a florescent blue a few minutes after that.

Doyle Goyle, a Slytherin who had failed and was now repeating his seventh year, was assigned a large bowl of muddy water with thick blue algae growing on the surface.

Lupin was given a bright green plant with a single menacing looking flower in the center, towering above thick, flat leaves. It looked a bit like a pitcher plant with its gaping mouth and bowl-like gullet, but it also had two long fangs behind its glossy, maroon and yellow striped lips. With Sirius's plant secured underneath his overturned bag, the table instead had to worry about being bitten by this new addition – which Peter quickly discovered after putting his finger an inch too close.

"Uh-oh, mate," Sirius chuckled as Peter sucked on his bleeding finger, "it's tasted human blood! Now it'll be after you while you sleep."

Pettigrew glared at him, not amused. Remus was giving the plant a similar look, as if it was a joke someone was playing at his expense.

Tundra Ondovchik, a strange girl from Slytherin, got a soot-colored plant that smoked as she sauntered back to her seat.

Pettigrew was given a pot of round, massive, velvety leaves that smelled so terrible even Remus's ferocious plant retreated somewhat.

Soon after, Potter received a somewhat twiggy, upright plant with a narrow orange shoot at the top. He looked rather forlorn as he peered at it, and Lily thought she knew why: like her, it would be just another worry added to an already lengthy list of things to take care of. Without warning, or instigation, the brightly colored shoot flexed and spit some sort of liquid straight into the air. James's eyes widened in surprise as he watched the excreted gook soar upward before careening back down and landing on the table, where it promptly burned a hole in the wood.

James shook his head in disbelief after staring at the smoldering spot for a second, then he called to Sprout across the room. "Why did you give us the most dangerous plants?"

The professor smiled as if at a personal joke and replied, "_You_ lot didn't get the most dangerous one, Mr. Potter. Mr. Snape did."

The four Gryffindor boys – and everyone else in the room – looked at Severus as he made his way back to his seat after getting his plant, which was such a dark green it was almost black. He ignored the stares, much like he had been doing ever since turning crimson and gold, and proceeded to his chair wearing only a slightly deeper scowl than before.

The famous Black smirk appeared on Sirius's face as he eyed Snape's gloomy plant with its thick tentacle-like vines and sharp spines. "Hmm. Doesn't look more lethal than Bitey and Acid Reflux over here," he said to his roommates. "Then again, I've got no idea what's in those thorns mine's shooting out."

Evan Rosier, a tall, good looking Slytherin, raised an eyebrow at Severus's project and pulled a grin as he shoved his own plant a safe distance away. "Sprout must know how much you like scary things, Severus," Lily heard him mutter.

Then the professor started talking again, having finished passing out the rest of the potted vegetation: "Okay, you're on your own now, boys and girls. I encourage you to name your plants and get to know them. Also, label them unless you want them stolen or misplaced. I'll see you all on Tuesday."

After dropping off her Herbology project in her room, Lily's last class and dinner went by in a blur and it wasn't long before she found herself facing her imminent meeting with McGonagall. Familiar feelings flooded her as she walked to the professor's office after dinner. She was afraid more than simple Head Girl matters were bound to come up, and some of the questions McGonagall would ask were ones she had no answers to. Things like her past class choices…

However, relief swept over her when at last she reached McGonagall's door and found a note stuck to it addressed to her:

_Evans,_

_I had to take care of a last minute detention. See me after class on Tuesday. _

_-Professor McGonagall. _

"Oh, thank God," Lily breathed aloud. She would have four days to come up with something to say when they finally saw each other again. It wasn't that she hadn't had countless meetings with the Deputy Headmistress since the beginning of the year, but usually Potter was there as well or they had more urgent things to talk about than Lily's thoughts on the future. She felt the subject coming closer and closer to the surface, however, and she was doing her best to avoid her teacher.

Dusting her stressful thoughts from her mind like old cobwebs, she headed back to the Gryffindor tower, hoping to get some reading done before Potions the next day.


	6. Jealous Blondes

6

Jealous Blondes

Lily perched at the edge of the lake on a large flat-topped rock – a bolder that was affectionately christened the "snog rock" by the older students because of a gap between it and another sizable stone that provided perfect shelter from prying eyes when a couple needed privacy. However, during most daylight hours it served as a solitary study spot just barely within sight of the castle. Lily had been to the rock on several occasions for both of its well-known purposes: once with a now ex-boyfriend, Martial Beaman, and a few times with Severus to study. These days, she snagged the spot whenever she needed to be away from everyone else to concentrate.

At the moment, she sat with her Herbology book lying open in front of her and her fickle-colored plant beside her crossed legs. It was taking a lot of searching to figure out what the little organism was, and she had to find out soon or she might accidentally kill it just by taking care of it the wrong way. Because she knew so little about it, she hadn't been able to name it anything too specific. The night before she'd settled on Aurora, after the Roman personification of dawn, as it changed colors like the sky at daybreak and it produced tiny little dewdrop forms as well.

She was just skimming over a chapter in her Herbology text about carnivorous flowers that resembled Venus fly traps when she suddenly noticed Ainsley jogging over from somewhere farther down the bank.

"Hey," she panted as she went around to the back of the rock and scrambled up its uneven surface.

"Hi," Lily replied, her eyebrows raised in question. "What's up?"

Ainsley hadn't caught her breath yet and merely pointed toward the direction she'd been running in. Lily followed with her eyes and saw two figures approaching. Elevated somewhat by the snog rock, she couldn't quite see their faces for the overhanging branches of the forest behind them, but she could tell it was a boy and girl.

"Who's –"

"– Remus and Cassie," Ainsley told her quickly. "I saw them leave the castle together."

Lily took her gaze away from Lupin and Sirius's ex to give Ainsley an exasperated look. "Please don't tell me you followed them."

"Of course I did," her friend snapped back impatiently. "I want to know why she's talking to him."

The Gryffindor and Slytherin were getting closer and Lily could just see Cassie Block's short blond page-boy cut under the leaves.

"Ainsley –"

"Shh! They're getting close." With that, she clambered back down the back of the bolder and gestured for Lily to follow.

The redhead sighed in annoyance, but quickly tossed her text book to Ainsley before grabbing Aurora and joining her friend. As she crouched in the narrow space, in which many students before her had fulfilled their teenage ideas of a romantic night, she couldn't help but remember being crammed inside it with Martial Beaman and feeling his sloppy kisses and overly curious fingers.

She was soon distracted from these thoughts as Remus and Cassie came near enough to be eavesdropped upon.

"I'm really worried, you know?" said Cassie in an unusually low voice.

"Right," Remus replied, equally quiet.

"I mean, I want things to work out between us," she continued, "and you have no idea how glad I am that you would even talk to me after everything that's happened."

Remus laughed a little "I wouldn't shun you just because of Sirius."

There was a short pause in which only the rustling sounds of their feet on the fallen leaves could be heard.

"So what do you think…"

But they never heard the rest of Cassie's question because their lowered voices wouldn't carry over the crunching leaves once they moved past the snog rock. Less than a minute later, Ainsley had popped back to her feet and was scaling the rock again to watch them go with Lily right beside her.

Remus and Cassie stopped after rounding the edge of the lake, and though they were far away it was plain to see that Cassie was beaming. For an instant she grasped Lupin's hand, then she hurried off up the hill toward the courtyard. Remus watched her go before continuing to stroll around the bank on his own.

Ainsley's shoulders slumped as she uttered a miserable whine beside Lily. "Maybe _she's_ why he was so ready for me to chuck him," she groaned heartbrokenly.

"No way," Lily said, shaking her head. "I can't see the two of them liking each other."

"But don't you see?" Ainsley exclaimed. "Remus and I broke up and the very next day Cassie and Sirius called it quits too! Now they're taking walks around the lake and talking about their relationship."

"Ainsley, that's ridiculous. They were probably talking about hers and Sirius's relationship."

"No. To me it sounded like she was worried that Sirius would get angry if they were together."

"_I_ think you're not over him yet and you're overreacting," Lily gently insisted.

Ainsley sighed and stared down at the rock face. "Well, you're right about me not being over him. That much is obvious."

Lily squeezed her around the shoulders consolingly.

"I just can't let it go, Lily," the blond said crossly. "He's been talking to that weird Ondovchik girl from Slytherin too. I saw them in the library and I wanted to kick her scrawny butt. He won't even talk to me as a friend anymore but he'll study with that scary freak?"

Lily frowned. She wasn't sure why Remus was hanging out with so many Slytherin girls recently, but after talking to him about Ainsley the night they broke up she couldn't see him moving on that quickly. "Something else has to be up, Ainsley," she told her friend. "Lupin isn't the rebound kind of bloke."

"I guess you're right. But I hate them anyway…"

That night at dinner, Ainsley's mood had still not improved. She stabbed at the potatoes on her plate with her fork and looked anywhere but at Remus, who was not far away. Lily and Blakeley could see brooding thoughts cross her expression and tried to cheer her by bringing up her success with the Herbology project.

"I still can't believe you already know what your plant species is," Blakeley said. "That project makes me glad I dropped that class back in fifth year. Thankfully, I don't need to know about plants to play Quidditch."

Ainsley made no reply.

"What did you say the name was again?" Lily inquired. "Ainsley?"

The blond looked up suddenly as if only just realizing they were still sitting beside her. "Huh? Oh, I forget. I have it written down in the dorm. I still don't know its common name…"

"Still, that's way more progress than I've had so far," Lily commended.

Ainsley had begun swirling gravy around with her fork and wasn't listening again.

All of the sudden Jessica appeared at Lily's elbow, saying, "Budge up a bit, Lil," and slithered in between her and Ainsley. "How is everyone?"

"Fine."

"Good."

"Lousy," grumbled Ainsley.

"Aw, why?" cooed Jessica.

"The usual."

"Lupin?"

Ainsley nodded gravely with a particularly hard stab to her food.

"What's he done to you now?" Jessica asked sympathetically.

"Oh, nothing _to_ me exactly," Ainsley explained flatly. "He's just getting over us far quicker than I like. He was getting cozy with Cassie Block today."

Jessica looked positively affronted. She immediately twisted around in her seat and scowled at Cassie, who was sitting with her friends at the Slytherin table. The girl's pretty mouth was split by a huge smile as she laughed with Evan Rosier and tossed her short golden hair away from her face.

Lily rolled her eyes. "It's not like she and Remus didn't know each other before this afternoon," she pointed out. "She used to hang out with the four of them all the time before she and Black broke up. I think they're just friends."

"But what if they're not?" Ainsley demanded.

Jessica nodded sagely. "Cassandra _Blockhead_ is a tramp. I could see her trying to seduce Lupin as revenge on poor Sirius."

Blakeley gave her an incredulous look. "Do you even listen to what comes out of your mouth?"

"Every day, darling," Jessica retorted rather coldly. "I'm just saying: Block is a hussy if I've ever seen one and she is not above using men to get her way."

"You're just pissed because even after Sirius chucked her, he still isn't paying you any attention," Blakeley said.

The death glare Jessica gave her then could have cowed Hogwarts's fiercest Hippogriff. She didn't dignify Blakeley's opinion with a response, but turned back to Ainsley instead. "I'm with _you_," she declared. "I hate Block."

"We should curse her," Ainsley snarked.

"We should!"

"Guys," Lily groaned, "please don't say that. Now if she ends up cursed, I'll have to look at you two."

"Okay," said Jessica, back to her usual tone of perkiness, "we just won't talk about it in front of you anymore."

Ainsley giggled and Lily exchanged a slightly worried glance with Blakeley. The conversation wasn't brought up again at dinner, but Lily couldn't help but wonder if her jaded friends might actually go through with their plans if Cassie crossed their path again anytime soon. She glanced over at Remus and Sirius's lot a few seats down the table and wondered how they'd managed to attract so many jealous blondes.


	7. The Storm

7

The Storm

Saturday came with all the grace of a rampaging hurricane. The sky was grey and laden with rain-swelled clouds ready to release their downpour at any minute. The wind made the trees in the forest heave and sway like an enormous breathing creature. Most of the students in the Great Hall eyed the tumultuous grounds with grim expressions.

"There's no way I'm going to watch a dumb sporting event in this kind of weather," Ainsley commented. "I'm not even that interested in Quidditch. From the looks of those clouds, I think I'd do better to wait for injured players with Madam Pomfrey."

Ainsley was studying to become a medi-witch and often assisted the school nurse. In her fifth year, Lily had been on the same course as her friend, but by sixth year her enthusiasm for the field had thoroughly dried up.

"I don't see how anyone could play Quidditch today," she said as a miniature tornado of fallen leaves whirled by the windows. "Do you think they'll cancel the game?"

"I've never known them to cancel one," Ainsley pointed out cynically.

A sudden round of song started down the table and quickly swelled, catching the attention of the rest of the Hall. Part of the Gryffindor table had united in a jeering battle chant; led and obviously engineered by Potter and Black:

"…_He can't play as Keeper,_

_He's a sorry-ass Seeker,_

_And he can't be a Beater,_

'_Cause he swings like a geezer._

_The Chasers despise him,_

_Even Filchy out flies him._

_Hooray for Snapendor!_

_He's the closet Gryffindor fan!"_

The Gryffindor Quidditch team (joined by Sirius and Peter) drew out the last note for several beats and burst into laughter as soon as they finished. Their song was met with cheers and applause from most of the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs. There was nothing like playing against Slytherin to unite the other houses.

Lily glanced around Ainsley to the Slytherin table. The opposing Quidditch team, including a still crimson and gold Severus, glared darkly at James and his teammates. Several of them – namely Regulus Black – made rude hand gestures. Sirius returned the insult with a gesture of his own and crowed: "Watch yourself, kiddo! The next song will be about you!"

It was getting close to game time. Many students were finishing their breakfast and preparing to head for the Quidditch pitch, wrapping themselves in warm robes or pulling out umbrellas. The two teams were already on their feet, ready to leave, when Professor Van Hoover, the flight instructor and referee, burst in through the door to the side of the staff table. The German man was drenched and dripping on the stone floor as he approached the Headmaster. Rain had started falling, making the scene outside more like a gale than ever.

Van Hoover bent to mutter something into Dumbledore's ear and the Headmaster frowned, glancing toward the windows as well.

"Looks like you're right, Lily," Ainsley commented. "Maybe the weather is too bad."

Dumbledore was suddenly on his feet and leaving the Hall from the same door Van Hoover had entered through. McGonagall stood and addressed the student body:

"Attention, houses," she called out in her stern voice, "it seems the storm has taken a bad turn. You should all stay inside until further notice. I'll tell you when it's safe to venture outside."

James's voice carried across the Great Hall then. "What about the Quidditch match?"

"Yeah!" seconded Slytherin's captain, sixth-year Gaston Veal.

McGonagall gave each of them a severe look. "We don't want you even _walking_ on the grounds at the moment; trying to fly in this weather would be foolhardy. The match will have to wait." Seeing the seditious looks on their faces she added, "No arguments! It's not as if the game can't be rescheduled."

Grumbling their discontent, the Gryffindor team followed James out of the Hall, all of them glaring daggers at Slytherin, promising to beat them to a pulp when they finally played each other. A general muttering started as others also began to depart.

"Blakeley's going to be really angry," Ainsley said as she stood to leave as well.

"Yeah," Lily nodded, peering thoughtfully at the door Dumbledore had just disappeared through. He had left very quickly and McGonagall was now muttering hurriedly with Van Hoover and the other professors. Stela Mears, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, rose from her seat and discretely left the hall with Professor Slughorn _not_ so discretely scampering in her wake, sweat already creating a sheen on his balding head.

Slughorn's barely controlled panic gave them away. Something more than a storm was happening. Lily watched the two exit the Great Hall and found someone else eyeing them further down the table. Remus Lupin hadn't left with his friends and was obviously seeing exactly what Lily was. When he turned, they exchanged a glance and she moved over to him.

"Is this looking weird to you too?" she inquired, sitting down beside him while Ainsley hung back awkwardly.

"Very weird," he muttered, before adding, "Did you notice the _Daily Prophet_ never came today?"

Lily's eyebrows shot up in shocked realization. "No! What could stop the paper from coming?"

"No idea."

"Lily," said Ainsley, who had suddenly walked up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, "I'll be in the library with my plant if you want to find me."

Her voice was cold and Lily could see Remus wince slightly in her peripheral vision.

"Alright, I'll meet you there," Lily said hurriedly before Ainsley turned on her heel and left. Then she regarded Remus again, "Do you think the storm would keep the _Prophet_ from being delivered? It must be hard for owls to fly in that."

Lupin shrugged, "Perhaps… I hope that's it."

She could tell his bleak tone was not just because of Ainsley's blatant unhappiness with him. He and Lily were thinking the exact same thing. Numerous headlines and articles from previous _Prophet_s jumped through the Head Girl's mind in quick succession. '_Inferi spotted in Dover_.' '_Imperiused Muggle Murdered Entire Family_.' '_Death Eaters Rally Vampires in Cardiff_.' '_Three More Wizards Missing_.' Could You-Know-Who control the weather too? Did other people not have news, or was it just them?

A girl's voice brought Lily back to the present.

"Hey, can we talk?" Cassie Block asked Remus, abruptly appearing at his shoulder.

"Now may not be –" he started to reply before trailing off as he looked at her. Cassie frowned sternly and crossed her arms over her chest as Remus's shoulders slumped. "Alright," he relented.

Eyeing the storm again, Lily felt an unpleasant churning feeling in the pit of her stomach as he got to his feet to go with Cassie. However, before leaving, he bent toward the redhead and said: "Don't worry, Lily. I'm sure we're just over thinking things."

But several hours later, the squall was still not letting up. The clouds had not moved and the rain had not slackened. Lily joined Ainsley in the library with her colorful plant, Aurora, and was searching every book she could find on rare, tropical plants, as this was what she judged her dewy-flowered project to be. Glad to be distracted from the tempest outside – at least between the rumbles of thunder that had recently joined the fray – she took a moment to stare pensively at the plant.

As she observed it, comparing it to a description of a poisonous species she'd just found in one book, the dewdrops changed slowly from lemon yellow to turquoise. It reminded her much more of the fiber optic Christmas tree her mother had purchased last year than any description the text before her had to offer. She flipped the book shut and the dusty thud it made was echoed by another murmur of thunder outside.

Meanwhile Ainsley was scribbling away with her quill. She was obviously having much more luck than Lily at finding information, or at least some clues. Of course, Ainsley was nearly top in their class when it came to Herbology, so that wasn't surprising. Lily grimaced, thinking that Aurora could be a hybrid of five other plants and grown by pixies in Fantasia for all she knew.

She was getting the feeling Sprout had given her one of the hardest plants because she was Head Girl. Was keeping up with regular assignments and her title itself not enough for her professors? Why did they find it necessary to make everything a little harder for her? She'd watched them do it to Potter as well; Professor Mears had even gone as far as to hand him extra reading material for Defense. Lily had almost laughed at the incredulous look on his face.

"I wonder if any Head students have cracked before…" she pondered aloud to Ainsley.

"Huh?" her friend grunted distractedly.

"You know, gone barmy from the stress."

Ainsley stared at Lily for a moment as if she had already gone mad, but eventually smiled as the image sank in. "We could check St. Mungo's loony ward. 'Hello! You wouldn't happen to be a former Head Boy or Girl from Hogwarts, would you?'"

Lily chuckled. "Yeah, just walk up to the nearest person with a severe book phobia who's bashing their head against the wall."

A flash of light followed instantly by the loudest boom of thunder so far made them both jump and their laughter quickly ceased.

"You know, I'm a little worried about how long this storm has lasted," Lily admitted soberly. "I mean it only seems to be getting worse, and no one has told us we can leave the castle."

Ainsley's face paled slightly. "Don't be so paranoid," she said uncomfortably. "I figured that's what you and Remus must have been talking about earlier."

Lily didn't have to be very observant to notice Ainsley had immediately assumed she was talking about You-Know-Who, despite the fact that she hadn't yet said anything about dark magic. She marveled at how one evil man could be so omnipresent in the lives of so many people at once. The thought unsettled her.

"I saw him with Block again…" Ainsley muttered in a low voice.

With her mind now on an entirely different track, it took Lily a moment to realize she was still talking about Remus. "Yeah, Cassie practically dragged him out of the Great Hall," she told her friend. "But he didn't seem very happy about it, so I don't think you have anything to worry about."

Ainsley opened her mouth to reply when she was suddenly interrupted by a booming voice that was very much out of pace in the taciturn library:

"Hello, ladies!" beamed Evan Rosier as he strut his tall, fit, swarthy self over to their table and took a seat as if they had been expecting him.

"What do you want, Rosier?" Lily asked flatly. The last person she wanted to see at the moment was this uncouth thing Severus begrudgingly called a best friend. Potter and all his friends combined on their worst day were nowhere near as unpleasant as the future Death Eater seated before her now.

"What any hot blooded seventeen-year-old bloke wants from two foxy mamas," the Slytherin paused, peering between the two of them for a moment before pointing a big finger at the volume in front of Lily. "That book, of course. That's the only copy and I need it for my dumb plant."

"Take it, I'm done anyway," Lily replied, shoving the thick book across the table to him.

"I didn't realize you knew where the library was, Rosier," Ainsley mocked dryly.

Evan's boyish grin only grew more mischievous as he regarded the blonde. "I got Severus to give me directions," he explained brightly. "I saw your former boy toy on the way here, by the way. You know, if you like pale, undernourished men so much you should look ol' Snapey-boy up. Ugly blokes will always return your call."

"I don't know, Evan," Ainsley retorted flatly, "I've heard _you_ don't call back very often. Maybe you should recheck that theory."

Evan clutched his heart like he was having an infarction. "Ow! Oh, Merlin's left nut, you've broken my heart with your matchless wit! I can never talk to a girl again! I'm doomed to date men for the rest of my life – But while I'm at it, care to get some lunch next Hogsmeade weekend, Auldsworth?"

Ainsley uttered an indignant noise. "You tosser! Why don't you do the world a favor and pull your lip over your head and swallow!"

"Take the book and go," Lily added with a withering glance that only seemed to further fuel the boisterous young man's good mood.

"Oh, Evans! Did I mention I saw Potter too?" he continued even as he slid from his chair and started backing away. "I told him he could forget asking you out again, 'cause you're too busy spanking my monkey. That wasn't out of line was it?"

"A rabid _grindylow_ wouldn't spank your monkey if it were starving to death, Rosier," she snapped, finally loosing her patience with him as well. At long last he left them alone, taking the book and chuckling like a moron as he walked away.

"Why are all the ruggedly hot guys complete douchebags?" Ainsley grumbled.

Lily merely shook her head in reply.

The rest of the day seemed to pass by agonizingly slow with no release announced by McGonagall or Dumbledore due to the storm firmly holding its ground over the castle. Dinner brought a mixture of rowdy and forlorn faces, some students getting a bit stir crazy after being cooped up all day, and others obviously feeling the same unease as Lily. The situation was not helped by the fact that their Headmaster was absent at the staff table.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team, however, seemed unaffected. Unable to play their beloved sport, most of them had taken to talking very animatedly about it instead.

"You have got to be kidding me, Potter," Blakeley spoke over her bespectacled captain. "There is no way a Chaser could make a comeback after a play like that!"

"What do you mean?" demanded James, enjoying the argument immensely. "Just because it's not common doesn't mean it's never happened!"

"I'm with Barron on this one; not even you could pull off that move," added Pamela Prather, the team's fifth-year Keeper.

"Any Chaser would be face down in the dirt!" Blakeley insisted as James rolled his eyes.

"Oh ye of little faith," he muttered.

Realizing she had no idea what they were talking about, and figuring she wasn't going to find out anytime soon, Lily focused on her plate and mentally went over the list of things she still had to get done tonight. Thankfully, having an entire day of nothing else to do but school work had caught her up quite a lot, despite her lack of luck with Herbology.

Jessica's overly vivacious voice suddenly cleaved through her thoughts from over near the Quidditch team. It seemed the bubbly vixen was trying her damnedest to hold Black's attention – as usual.

"So, what do you think, Sirius?"

Her love interest lost none of his perpetually charming features even as he gave her an irritated glance. "About what?" he asked, apparently having to leave a conversation with Remus to address her.

"Haven't you been listening to me?" inquired Jessica, more than a little insulted.

"No," he responded bluntly before turning back to his friends, leaving poor Jessica to sulk over her plate.

"Always the charmer, Sirius," Pettigrew guffawed. "I can't imagine why Cassie hates you."

"She _doesn't_ hate him," Remus spoke up promptly, "That's what I've been trying to say for the past ten minutes! Just talk to her, Sirius."

"I don't _want_ to talk to her," Sirius bit back.

"Don't be a git," Remus insisted.

Then Jessica was back in the game, butting in after overhearing who they were talking about: "Talking to her is the absolute last thing he should do! I hear she's been flirting with _Snotty Snivelus_ recently, which just proves she's not right in the head."

Black looked at her quickly, exclaiming, "_What_! That's disgusting! She'd never flirt with that _thing_!"

Pettigrew sniggered even more while a resigned Remus slouched forward to prop his chin on his hand, assuming the usual position of deafness he feigned whenever his mates' least favorite person came up in a conversation.

"That's it, I've got to talk to her," said Black, bolting to his feet and storming over to the Slytherin table.

Remus looked pleasantly surprised as Peter stared after their friend, dumbfounded. Jessica cursed loudly, picked up her plate as she stood, and dropped it roughly in front of Lily and Ainsley before plopping into the seat across from them in a huff. "What's so great about her anyway? … Lousy heifer… stealing my man…"

The perturbed girl's roommates did their best to stay indifferent to her incensed mutterings and settled for a shared glance between them. It was blatantly apparent that Ainsley was much happier after overhearing Sirius's exchange with Remus, and Lily couldn't help but return her grin. As soon as Black and Block disappeared from the Great Hall, the two girls joined forces to brighten Jessica's mood throughout the duration of dinner. By the time Lily got up to leave, Jessica and Ainsley were both intently discussing some juicy gossip about two of the Hufflepuff seventh-years, Corbett "Cobra" Rossetti and his buddy Bruce Renil, who had recently threatened to curse their cheeky housemate, David McKinnon for insulting Cobra's family name or something.

She left them to mingle and headed for the common room like most of the table already had. Walking down a corridor on the first floor, she stumbled upon an unexpected sight – though she reasoned afterward that she probably shouldn't have been so surprised. Sirius and Cassie had seemingly reunited quite successfully and where now using one of the many alcoves set in the castle walls as a makeshift shelter from prying eyes.

Seeing Black pressed so intimately against Cassie and sweetly kissing her neck while she clung to him like there was no tomorrow made Lily blush deeply. She walked faster and tried to pretend she hadn't seen anything, failing to hold back a mischievous grin despite herself.

Rounding the corner into the next hallway delivered another little jolt through her stomach when her eyes spotted a solitary James paused in mid-stride staring out of one of the windows. '_Well, the one never seems to stray far from the other_,' she thought wryly as she approached.

"Oy," she called quietly, "looks like your mate will be in a better mood for a while… James?"

He hadn't looked at her yet – his attention intensely focused on something outside in the rain – but he pointed at the window, signaling her to do the same. She hurried up to him and squinted through the glass at a figure moving toward the castle.

"Is that… Dumbledore?" she asked, feeling a chill run down her spine.

The Headmaster's form was blurred by the storm rampaging around him and the rain spattering the window pane, but there was no questioning who he was once she saw his long white beard billowing to one side in wet ribbons. He was stumbling badly, limping along as the wind rushed against him. Something was very wrong.

James's hand suddenly had hold of her wrist. "Come on!"

Then they were sprinting back down the corridor side by side. They went around the corner, rushing past the alcove as James shouted to his distracted best friend to follow them. Not slowing down for a second, Lily assumed they were headed down the long hallway toward the marble staircase. However, James stopped short, having to swing her around to a halt facing the middle of an unusually large space between two life-size standing portraits. Before she could question what he was doing, he had already tapped several spots on the wall with his wand in a quick sequence and the solid stone turned to a heavy curtain that matched the texture and grout lines of the wall exactly. James had this pushed aside to let them by in an instant and was pulling her down a dark flight of stairs she'd never seen before, guided by his wand light. When they emerged through another hidden curtain below, they were directly in front of the side entrance Dumbledore had been struggling to get to in half the time it would have normally taken.

Lily didn't have much time to dwell on her amazement. They burst through the side doors and into a courtyard. She could see the old man much more clearly now, despite the wind and rain lashing at her from every direction. Both students were drenched within seconds.

James reached the Dumbledore first, just as the white haired man nearly lost his footing.

"Oh God, Professor," Lily breathed as she and James took hold of Dumbledore's shaking arms to support him.

"Ah, my faithful students," he said fondly, his voice steady even as he leaned heavily on them. "Help an old man to Madam Pomfrey's, will you?"

"What happened?" James inquired over the rush of wind that nearly threw them all off balance.

"Oh, nothing our talented nurse cannot remedy, I'm sure."

James didn't question him again as they lead him through the courtyard to the door Sirius had just thrown open to help them inside. Cassie wasn't far behind, staring wide-eyed at them with one hand over her lips.

"A-are you okay, Headmaster?" she stuttered, her ordinarily collected demeanor shaken by Dumbledore's abnormally exhausted state.

"Yes, Miss Block," he assured her with a warm, if strained smile. "I seem to have merely overtaxed myself." Focusing more on his footing after that, he added in a firmer tone: "However, would you kindly fetch Professor McGonagall for me?"

"Yes, sir!" Cassie replied, immediately running ahead of them to the marble staircase.

Lily peered around Dumbledore's now bowed head to James, who in turn glanced at Sirius. The looked that passed between them seemed to hold far more knowledge than she felt at the moment. Holding tighter to her Headmaster's arm, she resolved to get some real answers about what was going on outside of Hogwarts as soon as she could.


	8. Attack on Hogsmeade

8

Attack on Hogsmeade

Lily sat on one of the benches outside the hospital wing with James beside her and Black leaning against the wall opposite. They had taken the Headmaster to the infirmary moments before and were hurriedly shooed out by Madam Pomfrey while she took care of the situation. Since then, Lily had started drying her clothes and hair with her wand as the castle was even chillier than usual thanks to the gale outside.

"She just doesn't want us asking questions," Black grumbled. "You'd think we were reporters from the _Prophet_ or something."

"Well, she probably wouldn't like the idea of us intruding or causing distractions while she healed Professor Dumbledore," Lily argued. "He was obviously really hurt."

James shook his head. "I don't see how he keeps up with it all," he said in a low, contemplative voice. "He has to be nearly a thousand years old and he's skipping off to deal with Death Eaters the moment they turn up. Does he have a crystal ball on his desk to tell him exactly where to appear and when?"

"Perhaps he has their weekly itinerary," Black offered.

"But he's always ready," Potter continued. "He never seems to miss a beat when it comes to this stuff. And here I am, without the thousand years weighing me down, and I'm not even prepared to face my bloody classes tomorrow. What good am I here?"

Currently, Lily could sympathize as they waited to hear the fate of their Headmaster. It was like being trapped, needing to move forward but still unequipped to do so while time swiftly cranked onward. To what avail were they sitting in this suspended animation of education? What was doing homework worth when terrible things were happening outside? Would they truly be prepared for what they might face outside these walls once they graduated?

"I told you we could've not come back," said Black mater-of-factly. "I knew this Head Boy mess was going to bog you down and keep you from doing what you wanted. Now they're trying to polish you up like a proper young trophy and put you behind a desk at the Ministry where you can work toward _'The Greater Good'_ like every other Head Boy before you."

"That's not true," Lily contended, frowning at the dark haired boy. "And what do you mean not come back?"

Sirius locked his scowl with hers and didn't back down. "Don't be naïve, Evans. It is true that Head students are guaranteed a position within the Ministry and they all take it because they're taught to think it's the best, if only option after Hogwarts. I bet it's a nasty shock when they realize that no amount of bureaucratic red tape will actually make any difference against people like that!" He pointed angrily in the general direction of Hogsmeade, presumably where Dumbledore had faced the Death Eaters earlier that evening.

"Being a Head Student is an honor, not a court sentence, Black," she pointed out.

"That's a matter of opinion."

Lily talked over him. "We'll be given more opportunities with this title and maybe we'll accomplish a lot more than you think – _especially_ against those people. We'll have a much better chance at doing that than the average witch and wizard because of our qualifications." She crossed her arms over her chest and sat up straighter in indignation. "And anyway, as Head Boy, James is certainly headed farther than you after graduation. With your track record, you won't be far from Azkaban prison once you've been released onto the general public."

Sirius's arrogant Black family smirk pulled at one side of his mouth as his eyes darkened menacingly. "So educate me then, Evans. As Head Girl, exactly what '_qualifications_' have you suddenly gained that make you so much better a candidate for fighting Death Eaters than a lowly regular student like myself? Are you endowed with special powers that I am unaware of?"

Lily crossed her arms and gave the boy a look that said he was in danger of being driven into the ground like a railroad spike. "Oh yes, lowly you, Sirius Black. As if you don't have everything at your fingertips – status, talent, money, blood, name – I can't imagine how you survive."

Sirius scoffed and tilted his head back to roll his eyes at the ceiling.

"Don't act as if you have nothing!" Lily snapped. "If I achieve anything after I leave Hogwarts – if I make a name for myself, I'll be hunted down like a dog because the Death Eaters wouldn't accept it! My family would be put in danger. So if being Head Girl will give me even the slightest advantage out there, I'm going to take it!"

"Oy! Oy!" James interrupted, sitting up and extending a hand between them like a barrier. "Stop it. Merlin's beard you two."

"That's exactly the reason we were thinking of not coming back, Evans," Black said evenly. "We want to stop them. Seventh year is just a giant waste of time."

Lily looked between them. Potter didn't seem to disagree. "Then why did you come back?"

"Because Dumbledore made Specs here Head Boy. He came back, so I came back."

She looked at James, who shrugged. "I figured I'd learn more useful magic as Head Boy," he explained. "If only I had known it would be so much information that I wouldn't have time to actually learn any of it…"

"The Headmaster probably made you Head Boy just so you would stay," Lily thought aloud, sitting back.

"That's what Remus thinks too."

She peered off down the corridor away from the two of them. "Well, it's good you came back then. If you want to be able to combat the Death Eaters I would stick around Professor Dumbldore for as long as possible." They were stupid to think they wouldn't need their final year at Hogwarts. Even two of the most talented students could stand to learn a little more. They would have been foolish not to take advantage of every bit of knowledge and ability they could get their hands on – and knowing them, they could get their hands on just about anything. Professor Dumbledore knew what he was doing, focusing James's ability and playing off of Black's loyalty to his friend. "I wonder how he's doing."

The boys didn't answer. Someone's pet rat was padding along the base of the wall Black was sitting against. He watched it intently as it paused by his hand and looked up at him, nose twitching curiously. He opened his hand and the rat climbed on. He set it on his bent knee. "It shouldn't be much longer now," he said. "Pomfrey's pretty quick. And McGonagall and Cassie should be here soon. I'm sure she'll want to talk to Dumbledore alone, but we'll just have to butt in."

James watched the rat on Black's knee blankly as it scratched its ear. "She's taking long enough," he said. "You'd think she'd be out there too, with Dumbledore. I wonder why the rest of the professors stayed when Death Eaters are nearby."

"Maybe they have to protect the school, just in case," Lily offered.

The door to the hospital wing swung open suddenly and Madam Pomfrey poked her head out. "Has the Deputy Headmistress come yet?"

They were shaking their heads as the sound of footsteps was suddenly audible and a person rounded the corner. "I'm here, Poppy," said Professor McGonagall, rushing down the hall alone. Cassie must have been sent back to her house. "What are you three doing here?"

They got to their feet, Sirius putting the rat back on the floor, where it scampered off the way it had come.

"We're waiting to see the Professor," James told their Head of House. The other two stood firmly with him, making it evident that they wouldn't be dismissed easily.

"Well, you can see him later," McGonagall said sternly. "Now is not the time to –"

"Minerva," Pomfrey interrupted, "the Headmaster requested they come in as well." She held open the door for them to enter. "But I'd like him to rest here tonight, so it would be better if you could be quick about it. He's very tired."

"I am not so sure it is a good idea for them to hang about," McGonagall protested. "I sent Miss Block back to her common room and they should do the same."

"I want them to know," called the old man from inside. "Please come in."

With pursed lips and a knit brow, the Deputy Headmistress relented. They walked to Dumbledore's bed and gathered at the foot. "Are you feeling alright, Professor?" McGonagall solicited anxiously.

Dumbledore smiled and made a small wave with his hand. "Yes, yes. Poppy has taken care of everything. I apologize for the scare – I am sure I was quite a sight for these three." He nodded to the seventh years. "Thank you for your assistance. These grounds are difficult to manage when your mobility is jeopardized."

McGonagall gripped the metal footboard of the bed, blurting, "Professor, why did you not tell the other staff members the severity of the situation? Had we known, we would have assisted you!"

"I think I would have done better with your assistance, Minerva," Dumbledore acknowledged. "However, I was unaware of the gravity myself. I had not expected this sort of attack. I wonder if it was not impulse."

Lily's heart was racing. The storm was centralized over the area and hadn't moved all day, so the attack Dumbledore had interfered with wouldn't have been far. Hogsmeade was the only town nearby – unless the storm was vaster than she had imagined.

"Where did they attack?" James asked, probably knowing the answer as well as Lily did.

"Hogsmeade," Dumbledore answered. "The post office."

"Post office? Why on earth would they strike there?" Black asked.

"To disturb our peace," McGonagall offered gravely. "They are showing us how close they can get."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, as if the occupants of this castle do not have enough to worry about with their families frightened and everything being printed in the papers."

"The paper didn't come today," Lily pointed out. James looked at her for a moment, just realizing she was right.

Again the ancient Headmaster nodded. "That is correct, Miss Evans. And I would not be surprised if our little post house was not the only one terrorized today."

"Well, how would we know?" McGonagall said. "We've not had contact with the outside world all day!"

Dumbledore continued: "If we are the only ones affected, then it would appear the Death Eaters are simply harassing the safety of this castle and trying to destroy a major part of how Hogsmeade runs. However, if their actions today were repeated in other post offices as well, then they may be attempting to damage communications between specific administrative offices and organizations that have crossed them. Also, they would only have to disrupt the largest mail centers to prevent smaller areas from getting the post as well, affecting every magical community. That would mean that everyone aware of them would be able to feel just how close the Death Eaters can get to their own homes. It sends a message that no one, regardless of blood status or station, is untouchable."

"Were any of them caught?" James queried.

"Regrettably, none. Preventing their attack from going farther into the town was the best I could manage at this point. And what is worse, it would seem they were searching for something – or someone – in the post."

Lily sucked in a breath.

Black looked confused. "Who would they be searching for?"

McGonagall volunteered this explanation as well: "For some time now, they have been using the Ministry to try and govern who should be allowed in the school. Their petitions and corrupt legal strategies have failed thus far, so they may be –"

"They're looking for Muggle-born students," Lily finished in a horror-struck daze.

"What?" exclaimed Potter and Black in unison.

"Since they can't get them through the Ministry," Lily went on flatly, "they'll get to their families using the only connection they have between the Magical and Muggle worlds."

"Miss Evans, look at me," Dumbledore demanded in a quiet commanding voice she'd never heard him use before. Lily set her frightened green eyes on the Headmaster's tired blue ones. "This is all purely speculation. We cannot assume anything just yet. It is very unlikely that the Death Eaters would use such laborious methods and they could have been searching for any number of things. The likelihood of yours or any other family being in danger is exceedingly slim. No more than yesterday or the day before. Please do not agonize over this. I wanted the three of you to stay because I did not want to hide things from you, but it was not my intention to frighten you."

"Yes, the Death Eaters have gone now, and Hogwarts is safe," McGonagall stated sternly to the three of them. "There is no need for panic or unneeded gossip or anxiety amongst an already worried student body. You are all safe."

Pomfrey appeared from nowhere and interjected. "Please Headmaster. You need to rest now. Can't this continue later?"

"I believe we are done, Poppy," Dumbledore assured her, his voice warm again. "Thank you all. I trust you know this should not be discussed openly. I will address the school in the morning. Good night."

"Good night, Professor."

The seventeen-year-olds left the hospital wing and parted ways with their Head of House in the corridor. They went to the Gryffindor Tower in silence, each solemnly lost in thought. The storm had ended at last and all that was left was a deafening silence throughout the castle. It was so quiet Lily could barely sleep for the tense stillness.


	9. Poor Head Girl

9

Poor Head Girl

By Monday the student body had largely recovered from Dumbledore's announcement about the Dark Lord's forces destroying Hogsmeade's Post Office. Most students could still send and receive personal letters from their parents by a direct owl from the school, or a pet owl, and the _Prophet_ started delivering again by that morning. The shock faded quickly enough, as had become the norm for most of the Magical community. Attacks happened everyday after all. Why should a place nearby be an exception? No matter how shaken they were, they had to continue with daily life – and daily life gave people the blissful illusion of normality. However, there were still a few students who had suddenly vanished – pulled from the school by parents fearing for their lives. Philomela, Lily's wandering roommate, had told the four of them her parents would have taken her out as well, but she convinced them to allow her to stay until Christmas to see if things got better.

In Potions, Slughorn passed out their test results from last class with a wave of his wand. Lily had to pick her jaw up off the table before she quickly flipped her test paper over and slipped it in her bag as nonchalantly as possible. She hadn't gotten a score that low since… She couldn't remember ever getting a grade that low in Potions. Of all the subjects she was balancing, this class was the last one she would have expected to slip in.

Thankfully, Ainsley, in her usual spot beside her best friend, did not bother asking what Lily made simply because the answer almost never changed from O – or at the lowest, an E. It would have been mortifying to admit the letter. Potions was one of Lily's fortes along with Charms. She had tutored other students through some of Slughorn's trickier projects. She and Severus had competed with each other on papers and exams back when they were still speaking. But unless Potter had also given him a damaging blow to the head when he hexed the Slytherin red and gold, Lily was pretty sure Severus had beaten her this time. Peter Pettigrew had probably beaten her.

A slow irrational rise of panic made her deaf to Slughorn's words as he walked around the front of the room, his lesson only joining the white noise beneath her racing thoughts. How on earth had she let this happen? That test was not a small screw up. She had briefly read over the topic, but her notes had been insufficient and the ones she borrowed from Ainsley were generalized. Ainsley could remember plenty without writing everything down. Lily had never had time to complete reading the chapter, but she'd managed to get sufficient grades with less knowledge on a topic. So what had gone wrong? Would this make her total grade drop?

Lily mentally slapped herself. _Quit freaking out!_ she chided. One test, even this one, would not break her grade even if it did lower it a bit. It was just a nasty shock to see _that_ letter over the top of her writing. Nothing to panic over – though her chest still felt heavy as the stress soaked in. She had merely taken her overall talent in Potions for granted and fumbled. It was not an irreparable blunder and she reminded herself that it wasn't the worst grade possible. She had never been this anxious over grades until recently when nothing short of perfection was expected of her.

What could she do to make this up? She was still watching Slughorn without hope of hearing the lesson. She'd already read the entire chapter for this week when the school had been confined indoors during the Death Eater attack. She felt confident enough in her understanding of the next potion at hand. This one would be concrete rather than theoretical like the last one. She would be perfectly fine so long as she was making an actual concoction.

She wondered if she could convince Slughorn to allow her some extra credit projects. He often did that when the class grade was below expectations. Their collective low scores made him look equally ineffective. Looking around the room, she noticed more than a few downtrodden classmates. She could even see a few D papers and a T from where she was sitting. She was positive Slughorn would bend to extra credit if she requested. The biggest problem with that would be finding time to truly understand the topic this time and accommodate the surplus of work into her schedule.

And she would need to relearn it fast, so help would be a must. Ainsley was adequate to study with, but Potions were not her best subject. She only took it to fulfill her medi-wizard requirements. Lily considered some of her other classmates and came up short on possibilities rather quickly. Remus probably did alright, but, like Ainsley, this was not one of his better talents either. She vaguely thought of James, but she honestly couldn't say how well he did in the class, and she knew his schedule was a bad as her own. Plus, he would undoubtedly take her asking him for help in a subject she was proficient in as her flirting and things would get out of hand.

Looking back discretely, she spotted the four boys at their normal post at the back of the room. Lupin was intensely taking notes. Pettigrew was looking over his arm at what things he was writing before revising his own notes. James had finished some sort of note or drawing and tilted it toward Black, nudging him with his elbow to get his attention. Black's extremely bored countenance split into a malicious smile. Lily watched as James used his wand to float the paper over the heads of the rows in front of them. The leaf flipped and twirled on its way but she could never see what the drawing was. It reached its destination, drifted gently down, and suddenly plastered itself violently against the sharp contours of Severus's face. Lily had to put a hand over her mouth to quiet her laugh as the Slytherin flailed in surprise and ripped the parchment away from his fading two-tone visage. He glared furiously at the offending paper and only grew more irate when he saw what was on it. He crumpled it up and sent it zooming with impressive force back at James with a flick of his wand. Now Lily wasn't the only one watching as James twitched his wand in a small circle and the paper turned to a fine dust, wafting up toward the ceiling before it could complete its trajectory. The Head Boy saw her observing and gave her a wink. Lily rolled her eyes and looked back at Slughorn, who had not noticed a thing.

Sirius would certainly have made an Outstanding on the test, being the only person in the room who unfailingly equaled Severus's potion aptitude. And though she was sure she would regret it, she decided to ask him for help after class. Maybe he wouldn't be too big of a git about it.

A minute or two before class let out, Slughorn turned to them all and spoke loudly over the commotion of students packing their supplies away early:

"I was undeniably disappointed in the overall efforts of the class on this last test. Theory is as equally valuable as physical potion knowledge, pupils! However, I realize it's a smidge more difficult to comprehend – so I will be giving up my dinner time tomorrow night for those of you who would like a chance to redeem yourselves through a make-up test." Slughorn bowed slightly as if accepting their adoration for being such a kind professor. Lily's stomach squirmed a little when his eyes darted in her direction. However, at the mention of being able to fix her misstep, her heart felt significantly lighter and much farther from a panic attack than before.

When the bell sounded Lily knew she would have to move quickly – not only to catch Black, but also to escape before Slughorn had the chance to come speak with her about the grade. She seized her bag and left a puzzled Ainsley behind without a word. Black and Potter had already vanished through the door, but she caught up to Lupin and Pettigrew in the corridor.

"They took off. I figure it's usually safer not to ask what they're up to," Remus explained when she asked where their friends had gone.

"They split up," Pettigrew said, helpfully.

"Which way did Black go?" Lily demanded.

They pointed her in the opposite direction and she flew away from them, calling thanks over her shoulder. She passed Ainsley on the way: "Lily, what are you doing?"

"Sorry! I'll tell you at dinner I promise!"

The corridor curved around with the architecture of the castle, so she didn't see him until he was disappearing into another hallway at the end. "Black wait!" she cried.

His head poked back around the corner to investigate the female voice calling his name. "Alright, _Mademoiselle Fille Chef_?"

"Well, that will depend upon you, actually," Lily replied, panting as she reached him.

"Most women would agree with you," he smiled. "Especially the ones like you who actually resort to chasing me down."

"Whatever," she said, dismissing his comment. "I need to ask you a favor."

"Do you mind if we walk while you ask? I have somewhere to be." With that he started off again, leaving Lily to scramble after him to match his long-legged strides.

"I was wondering if you would mind helping me with the last Potions assignment? I want to bring my grade up," she explained, still out of breath.

"Yes," he said simply.

"Yes? You'll help me?" she said, taken aback by how easy it was.

"Yes, I mind," he corrected with a charming smirk.

Of course he did. "But – but I don't need much. You know I'm good at Potions – all I need is a little – uh – overview," she finished lamely, unwilling to use the word 'tutoring.'

"No way," Sirius answered flatly.

"Why not? It wouldn't take long. A couple of hours at the most," Lily tried to reason, without sounding like she was begging.

"I'm busy, dearest. Can't do it."

"Busy with what?"

"With stuff…"

"What _stuff_? Certainly not school work."

He barked a single laugh. "Certainly not!"

"Look, I'll help you out with whatever you're doing if you want. Just do me this favor."

Sirius's amused smirk became a true grin as he regarded her. "You want to help me set Filchy's underpants ablaze? I'm a bit surprised, but be my guest. I'll need someone to distract him while I nick something of mine from his office anyway."

"What? Are you _serious_? No!"

"Serious? Hasn't that joke with my name been beaten to death already?"

"Will you grow up for two seconds, please?"

"Sorry, that takes too many brain cells."

"Black!"

"Ginger!"

Absolutely furious by this point, Lily swung her bag out to cut off his swift strides and planted herself resolutely in the tall boy's path.

Black's expression was mildly surprised. "Woah, Evans. You certainly know how to get a fellow's full attention. That bag almost hit me in the –"

"– I made a Poor…"

There were several seconds of silence between them, in which Lily kept her eyes trained on the floor.

"Well, that's… unfortunate…" he said awkwardly.

"Yes, very much so," Lily agreed, trying not to gnash her teeth. "I've never scored that low in Potions and both Slughorn and McGonagall are going to give me hell about this until _doomsday_ if I don't make it right. All I need is someone – hopefully a certain capable, if delinquent, classmate who knows what's good for him – to help me with the details of the last assignment so I don't have to scavenge for information on the subject all night long."

"I think I'm the last person you should consider for this," Black said honestly.

"You _are_ the last person I considered…"

"That makes me feel really warm and fuzzy, Evans. But really, the only tutoring I'm good at is the kind virtuous lasses like you don't talk about in public. My mum made me help Regulus with school for a while and you can see how well that turned out. Dumber than a garden gnome."

"But you know this stuff," she persisted. "And anyway, it's the perfect opportunity for you to tease or make fun of me to no end. You'd be helping the Head Girl with one of her best subjects, which, I can assure you, tortures me more than I can say."

"I can't do that, Evans. You're off limits because Jamesy-boy likes you too much. But I can't help you anyway." He held up his hand and spoke over her protests, "You're not the only one with a full schedule. Sorry, but I really am swamped."

"With wreaking havoc on Filtch?" she demanded incredulously.

"No, that was a joke. I'm going to the library. The exploding pants project begins tomorrow."

"The library? What for? Herbology?"

He moved around her and walked on, calling back without turning: "There's a war going on outside, Evans, and theoretical potions aren't going to stop it. No time for lessons!"

"I notice you still have time to prank Filtch," she yelled at his retreating back.

"All work and no play makes Black a dull boy!"

Lily groaned and went back the way she came. It only registered after she was nearly to the first floor corridor that the expression he had used was a distinctly Muggle phrase. Had the rebellious Pure Blood boy been reading James Joyce by any chance? While "Araby" would be quite appropriate for Black and his friends, she couldn't imagine them reading it. He must have gotten it from somewhere else.

Just then she happened to notice Severus making his way through the hall. She paused for a long moment, weighing her options. She could try to solicit her former friend's help and maybe even repair a few things he had damaged between them. However, if he refused and lashed out at her again she would look like a fool and also get her feelings stepped on once more. She could handle that possibility, but she didn't really want to deal with it.

On the other hand, if she focused on more important things, like Black had suggested, and let her Poor slide, she would have to deal with her professors instead – which would inevitably waist twice the amount of time since both Slughorn and McGonagall would want to lecture her over it. That made up her mind: she could handle Severus being a berk over the pressure of her professors being disappointed in her inability to manage her time for important school work.

She turned the corner after Severus and walked up next to him, matching his pace. Why did all these tall boys have to take such huge steps wherever they went?

"Severus, I need to talk to you," she began calmly.

He glanced at her from around his greasy black hair. "What? Not playing Potter's arm candy today?" he scoffed.

"I am not and have never been James's arm candy," said Lily, not rising to the jab. "Now can I please talk to you?"

"What if I don't want to be seen with you?" he responded with a scowl.

"Then the feeling would be mutual. But I was wondering… How did you fare?" She let their old competitive phrase hang between them and arched an auburn eyebrow at him when he glanced at her again. They used to compare grades this way in their first few years at Hogwarts, back when they were still close friends.

She caught a glimpse of the smallest twitch at the corner of his mouth, as if he were close to smiling. "Outstanding," he finally answered, obviously as cocky about the fact as ever. "And you?"

"Well, you know us Mudbloods," she retorted, noticing with no small amount of satisfaction as he squirmed slightly at the sound of the foul word coming from her mouth. "We just can't compete with your level."

The Slytherin boy looked around the hall, which was now empty save for the two of them. "Is this what you wanted to talk about?" he demanded, stopping.

"I need your notes."

"What for?"

"Because I know they're good. I'll give them back later, I promise."

"I mean why do you need them?"

"Because you owe me, Severus."

"Wh-what are you –" he sputtered, but she cut him off.

"You owe me for choosing the Pure Bloods over our friendship," she said coldly. "And yes, I am using emotional blackmail for a grade – but don't pretend for one second you wouldn't do the same. I know you don't actually hate me, but if you want to pretend you do to fit in, I'm fine with that. You're free to do whatever you like with whomever you like, but you owe me at least as much as some lousy notes for treating me like crap for the past two years."

He stared at her with a carefully closed expression, but she knew he was shocked at her frank speech about their ruined friendship and that he had no defense against it. It was the first time had had looked her full in the face in a long time. All of the sudden he let his bag slip off his shoulder to hang from the crook of his elbow and he rummaged through it for a moment. "You must really be doing bad to resort to this," he muttered into the bag.

"I don't have a lot of options," she told him. "And I guess I could have made a good Slytherin, just like you wanted."

He found the right notes and pulled them from the bag. "I don't remember you being quite this serious about your grades before," he commented emotionlessly, holding out the papers cramped with his minuscule writing.

She took them and slipped them into her own satchel. "Well, they've become a lot more important these days. Every little bit counts."

"You know, I would have given them to you anyway if you wanted them," he stated coolly.

She wanted to ask if he would still say that if Rosier or Avery were around. "Well, now you don't have to feel guilty about betraying your _real_ friends, since I basically forced you to do me a favor."

"What friends?" Severus muttered darkly under his breath as he turned and walked away from her.


	10. The Library Incident

10

The Library Incident

As she went through the rest of the day, she desperately tried not to dwell on her frigid exchange with Severus as she decoded his familiar miniscule shorthand. She couldn't be slowed down by her distracting emotions about the boy even if she was using his notes. And it was not long before she saw every one of her mistakes from the test laid bare by his careful observations. She could see plainly from the fully cultivated theories he crammed into each margin that he was guaranteed a potions master position somewhere the moment he graduated. The Ministry or St Mungo's would pounce on him with the first step he took out of Hogwarts with a diploma clenched in his fist.

For the umpteenth time since fifth year, she considered a potions position herself. It would be a safe, practical route to take given her ability. But was that really what she wanted? Was what she wanted really an option anymore?

She continued reading the notes through dinner, explaining her situation to Ainsley in hushed tones – how Black had refused to help her, and how she had turned to Severus. Ainsley seemed somewhat appalled about Lily talking to the Slytherin, but offered to help her study later, which Lily gladly accepted. They went to the library after dinner.

"Whoah," Ainsley commented, squinting her blue eyes at Severus's writing. "This is some intense potions geekiness."

Lily smiled a little. "Well, you already knew he was really into the class."

"Yes, and I've seen him take notes before, but this is a bit bonkers." She tapped the paper leaves with the back of her fingertips. "He's got stuff in her that I've never even considered, and those are just his opinions on what Slughorn was _wrong_ about during class. Not to mention what he's written in all the margins."

"That's Severus for you," Lily commented. "He always has to prove he's smarter than everyone else in the room – even if he's the only one who'll read what he's writing."

"Him and whoever else borrows these," Ainsley pointed out.

"No, he doesn't hand out his notes to anyone, as far as I know… except me when we were friends. Which apparently still stands, so long as I guilt him into it." She laughed softly. "If you think those are intense, you should see his book. He might as well have written his own text for class for all he needs it. Could have saved a little money."

Ainsley just shook her head. "I'm sure he'll make some homely potions mistress very happy someday. Or suicidal."

"Alright, can you test me on the theoretical formula?"

"Sure, if I can find it and translate it."

They were there for some time before anyone else approached the section. Carrying his snapping carnivorous plant, Remus Lupin came through the rows. He noticed them and smiled briefly but quickly passed their table upon seeing Ainsley's frigid expression pointed at him. He sat down at a table farther into the section, allowing a hulking bookshelf to serve as a barrier between himself and the girls.

Lily was just wondering when this tension between the exes would fade – A month maybe? Never? – when she turned back to Ainsley to find someone lurking behind her friend who hadn't been there before.

Pale Slytherin seventh year, Tundra Ondovchik must have materialized out of nowhere. She had made no noise when she approached, and even as she moved along the bookshelf near them she hardly made a sound on the stone floor. Ainsley twisted about to see who Lily was looking at and nearly jumped when she spotted the slight girl wafting around behind her like some sort of apathetic wraith in search of a mildly interesting volume to pass the time with. The odd girl could only be described as anorexic, maybe malnourished at best. On top of her general pallor and skinny figure, her hair lent another striking oddity; a two layer bob, with the top layer being sandy blond and the bottom brunette. She was wearing what must have been a secondhand sweater intended for the average twelve-year-old, judging by how well it fit against her boney, rather flat chested figure. A multicolored skirt swung from her protuberant hipbones all the way to her ankles. Lily saw that beneath the long garment, Ondovchik wasn't wearing any shoes, despite how cold the floor must be this time of year. That explained why they hadn't heard her before.

She paid them no attention, hoisting the pot of her Herbology plant into a more secure position against her ribs where she held it in the crook of one ropey arm. Obviously failing to find a book she wanted, she reached the end of the shelf and stepped into the gap between rows and suddenly paused, spotting something interesting out of sight. She disappeared among the shelves, whereupon Lily would have gone back to studying, but Ainsley jerked back around in her seat with a meaningful look on her face.

"What?" Lily asked, taken aback by her friend's intensity.

"She's heading for Remus," Ainsley said, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"How do you know?"

Within a second they heard a muffled "Oh, hello Ondovchik," from Remus on the other side of the bookshelf.

Ainsley gave her an I-told-you-so look and leapt from her chair to quietly slide some books around on the eye-level shelf to see through to the other side. "Seriously?" Lily said, a bit impatient. Ainsley insistently waved her over and the redhead reluctantly joined her in spying on their housemate.

"See!" said the light haired girl triumphantly. "I told you he had hung out with her last week. Now they're at it again!"

"At what exactly?" Lily demanded as she too struggled to find a small opening between books large enough to see through.

"Talking! As if talking to her is something perfectly normal and not freaky at all," Ainsley expounded. "She's weirder than that Hufflepuff bloke who wears the hot pink earmuffs in winter. Have you ever heard anything normal come out of Ondovchik's mouth?"

Lily finally found a vantage point and waved at Ainsley to stop talking or they would be discovered. The two girls watched as the Slytherin slid into the chair closest to Lupin and scooted her soot colored plant next to his. The fanged flower of Remus's plant promptly stretched out its stem neck as far as possible to test just how close it might get to munching off a leaf of the other plant. It was mere centimeters too far away and the mean little thing gave up for the time being.

Ondovchik hadn't said a word so far; she simply sat beside the boy and observed him for a moment. He looked back questioningly, but when she didn't show any signs of acting according to typical conversational procedure, he opted to go back to searching the book before him on the table. He gave her a couple of side glances, clearly uncomfortable with being studied rather than spoken to.

Meanwhile, Lily spotted a toad crawling out of the back of Ondovchik's sweater and she grinned to herself. She had a toad herself and was quite fond of them and their quirky habits. Ondovchik's pet clambered down her arm a little ways before springing onto the table and sitting there watching the two humans not talk.

This really was an odd interaction.

"Did you come to research your plant," Lupin asked awkwardly, trying to start a conversation.

Without replying, Ondovchik's eyes alighted on his arm and without warning she nimbly seized his sleeve and pushed it up past his elbow. Lily couldn't quite tell, but she thought she could see a series of marks or discolorations on Remus's skin there. Ondovchik evidently had seen what she wanted because she quickly pulled the boy's sleeve back down and again looked him in the face.

"Just curious," she said flatly.

Remus went ashen and stared at her in a state of complete shock and alarm.

Ainsley waved at Lily to get her attention. "I couldn't see! What did she do to him?" she breathed.

Lily shrugged and looked back at Lupin, who seemed as if he were ready to bolt. However, in a few seconds he turned in his seat to face Ondovchik instead, an expression of resolve settling on his face.

He began with, "How did you –" but she cut him off.

"I didn't until just now. But I sensed it in you before," she said in a monotone voice.

"Sensed?" he said, frowning crossly as if he didn't believe her. "Sensed how?"

The girl shrugged her small shoulders. "I see that kind of stuff."

Lily watched just as Ondovchik did as the anxiety grew on Remus's face. The Slytherin smiled at his discomfort, saying, "Don't have an aneurism, Lupin. I'm not interested in shouting your business to the whole school. Who would listen to anything I said anyway?"

He only relaxed a tiny degree. "You…" He trailed off momentarily and then started over. "Why aren't you –"

"Trust me," she said, interrupting him again, "If this school is a freak parade, I'm twirling the flaming batons. You don't even compare. I do find you a lot more interesting, of course."

"Happy to entertain," Remus quipped sharply. "But how could you just know something like that?"

"Let's just say I have no need for a Divination class."

"Oh, you think I'll let up that easily, do you?"

One half of the skinny girl's mouth cranked upward in an amused smirk. "If you're curious, pay attention and maybe you'll learn more."

They regarded each other, Remus still uncomfortable but starting to relax, and Tundra content to watch his discomfort. Before anything else could be said, Remus's plant finally managed to take a nip off the very tip of one of the leaves of Ondovchik's plant.

"Oh, sorry, this thing is kind of a git. I shouldn't have left it so close," Remus said, quickly shoving it further down the table and pulling his fingers lithely out of the path of the flower's sharp teeth.

Ondovchik's dark plant started to smoke out of a sort of pod-looking bundle of blackened leaves in the center. All of the sudden the pod contracted violently and spat a ball of flame the size of a human head into the air. Remus started and watched the flame as it shot forever up. Lily and Ainsley also craned their necks back to see past the shelf as the small inferno rocketed upward, both their eyes wide as it finally collided with the ceiling and extinguished. The resulting scorch mark was very visible and all the quiet noises ceased throughout the library.

The two girls looked at each other with some alarm, then instantly back at the boy and girl on the other side of the shelf.

Remus was staring open mouthed at the burn on the arched plastered ceiling as Tundra said in the same dry tone: "I think mine can take yours. Want to see what they'll do if they're closer?"

He looked at her, eyebrows raised. Then he suddenly cracked a huge smile and started laughing. He held a hand up in front of his mouth to muffle the sound, but when Madam Pince rounded the corner with murder in her eyes, it wasn't directed at Remus.

"Miss Ondov-chick!" Pince snarled, mispronouncing the girl's name (the "ch" was silent). "I want that hazardous plant out of here immediately! That is the second time this week!"

"Got to go," said Tundra, picking up her plant and toad before standing to leave. "Your mates will be here soon anyway."

The lingering smile on Remus's mouth broadened. "You're right, but I didn't tell you that."

She tapped her temple knowingly with her thin finger. "Kidneys," she told him, as if this somehow explained everything.

"Out. Now!" Madam Pince reiterated.

Remus shook his head disbelievingly as Tundra sauntered away. Pince glowered at him once the girl was gone as if reproaching him for his choice of study companions. He stopped smiling instantly and looked down at his book to placate her. In another moment, the Librarian was gone and Lily and Ainsley were gawking at one another in shock. Without words they made the unanimous decision to silently rush back to their table. Once there, they erupted into whispers.

"What was that?" Ainsley exclaimed. "Is Sprout mental giving out dangerous plants like that to weirdos like Ondovchik?"

"Imagine what it could do to someone's face!" Lily agreed. "Or if it got in a mood in her dorm and decided to light the bed hangings!"

"And could you see what she did to Remus before? I was blocked by a shelf divider."

"Not really. She did something to his arm I think," Lily answered.

"Well, he didn't seem too pleased. I wondered why they were talking before. It was around this same spot too." Ainsley's pale eyebrows knit and she fiddled with a strand of her hair. "She seems to think Remus is as big a freak as she is, but even Snape is more balanced than her. That has to be why she keeps coming around, though. She's obviously not here to study."

Lily shrugged her shoulders. "Well, despite whatever it was she did to him, it doesn't look like he dislikes her. They acted almost like friends."

"Well, that would make him the first friend besides that toad that I've _ever_ seen her with," Ainsley commented derisively. Lily had to agree with her. Ondovchik seemed the epitome of a loner and hardly ever spoke to others unless it was to make them extremely uncomfortable in some way.

They heard voices approaching and looked up in time to see Remus's roommates as they passed. James's eyes met Lily's for a second and he smiled at her. Peter waved at the two girls as if he were just excited to see someone he knew in the library, and Sirius either hadn't noticed them or was ignoring them altogether.

When they had disappeared and joined Remus, the girls exchanged a look. "Creepy," said Lily, "she was right."

Ainsley quickly scoffed and brushed the incident off. "Coincidence," she said bluntly. "And an easy one to predict at that. Like I said, she's a nutter."

Lily was relieved when they got back to doing actual work. She had gone through the trouble of getting the stupid notes, and she was determined to learn as much as possible from them before the make-up test – even if that meant ignoring Ainsley's need to keep tabs on a boy she still gave death glares to in public. She'd had her fill of peeking on other people's conversations, no matter how interesting they were. However, she couldn't help but recall some of Severus's old suspicions about Lupin as she read through the greasy-headed boy's notes once more. When she saw Ondovchik's actions toward Remus's arm, it occurred to Lily that she had never once seen the boy wear sleeves any higher than the elbow. Maybe she was wrong and simply couldn't remember a time at the moment, but she was sure she had seen the other three shirtless at some point or another when the weather was warm enough to swim in the lake – but never Lupin. There was something wrong with him physically, that much was obvious, and apparently Ondovchik had discovered his malady despite his efforts to conceal it. He'd looked extremely unsettled by the fact, but by the time the queer girl had left he didn't seem to be worrying too much about it. Why would he be alright with Tundra knowing, but not Ainsley? Lily could tell by her blonde friend's continued distraction while they studied that she was asking herself the same question.

Being a werewolf would certainly explain a person's desire for secrecy, but Lily still wasn't convinced that was possible. Didn't the magical community take extreme measures to exclude werewolves and vampires and hags from every part of society because they were too dangerous to reside alongside normal people? Why would they allow one to be educated at Hogwarts? Even if that child was as mild mannered as Remus. It just seemed too unlikely – however well the signs might coincidently fit Severus's suspicions. She shook off her reflections and focused on Potions.


End file.
